The Inside Joke
This is my latest artwork, "Alligator Lagrimas," also known as "Crocodile Tears." It was created using a gel plate and brought to life with shimmering layers of red, gold, and emerald paints that shift and glimmer as the light hits them. The work is a nod to Leonardo da Vinci’s Lady with an Ermine, reimagined through a modern and symbolic lens. The central figure is a woman with long copper hair, gently holding an albino crocodile in a tender embrace. Tears stream down the crocodile’s face, while the woman smiles softly, creating a deliberate contradiction between grief and serenity. This tension highlights the complexities of appearances and hidden truths, underscored by the richness of the metallic hues.
At its heart, the painting explores themes of authenticity, performance, and emotional duality. Just as the crocodile weeps falsely in the old metaphor, so too do people mask sorrow or betrayal with smiles and calm exteriors. Relationships today often carry this same contradiction—where one can say “everything is fine” while secretly navigating affairs, job loss, depression, or substance abuse. The piece asks viewers to confront the uncomfortable truth that appearances rarely tell the full story, and that behind every polished exterior there may be pain or deception.
By using both classical inspiration and modern abstraction, "Alligator Lagrimas" becomes a layered metaphor for the fragility of trust and the contradictions of human behavior. It challenges the viewer to look closer and reflect on their own connections, and to consider the ways we present ourselves to the world versus what we may actually feel. The piece is at once beautiful, unsettling, and deeply human, embodying the shimmering contradictions of life itself.
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Private Collection