This is my new painting for the CAP 2020 - which I only just finished on deadline last Friday. Their theme is again "Identity". In 2018 I was honoured to be included as one of their 40 finalists out of 500 national entries.  

It was a difficult painting for me for many reasons.  This year I was focused on a personal theme of how losing my father in 2018 has revealed/altered my sense of identity. Let's just say I'm.glad painting is a private process. It's painted in acrylic, with only the Furies silhouette base-painted with aerosol and stencil, then hand painted over that. The background took as long as the foreground and is, for me, even more important than the figures in a way. 

Title: A Many Splendored Thing
Artist: Carl Gopalkrishnan (aka Gopal)
Medium: Acrylic paint and aerosol on stretched canvas (172 x 76cm)

Artist Statement 

Fathers and sons have complicated relationships. When my father died two years ago it was a shock to discover that my identity was so tied up in performing for others. All my multiple identities required me to wear masks as I was adopted- or co-opted- into supporting their identities. I lost myself. A bi-racial dual citizen of many cultures, I’ve discovered that being ‘mixed up’ can be a strength when the performance of my identities fall apart. Here The Furies, from Greek tragedy, and symbols from my faith and cultures express my journey of rebuilding my identity after a loss.

Collie Art Prize 2018 from Gumfire on Vimeo.