I liked it so much I padded it down with a bandage and it grew back, c. 2010
Texta on paper
75.5 x 109.5 cm (image); 87 x 123 cm (framed)
Provenance
Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney
Acquired from the above circa 2010
"Arlene TextaQueen sees the world vividly. In her work, the world we know and the world of the artist’s friends and community is condensed, distilled and made more. More colour, more detail, more life, more flesh, more character." (Rodney Forbes https://www.monash.edu/muma/exhibitions/offsite-and-touring/2010/arlene-textaqueen-naked-landscapes-...)
I liked it so much I padded it down with a bandage and it grew back comes from the broader TextaNudes body of work. Like all works from the series, TextaQueen’s use of the Texta pen playfully takes a child’s medium and elevates it to the gallery wall. At the same time, the cartoonish lines and at times gaudy colours aim to provoke and seize the viewer’s attention, highlighting the joyful, outlandish and outsider nature of queer culture and politics. But the careful mark-making contrasts with that impression of childhood, with parts of the surface resembling the grain of wood.
Image courtesy of the artist