SEAN ALISTAIR

 
 

Anonymous Portrait Nr. 15, Sean Alistair, Fibre Painting, 65 x 65 cm

In this painting there is a young man around the age of 30 with a kind face, cleanly brushed hair wearing a suit. He is holding a young boy in his arms who is obviously distracted by something else and looking away from the viewer. This mixed media painting was painted from a photograph from the 1950's or 60's after an important day at a church in Germany, however the artist omitted all the details of the background and is only showing the figures. The middle tone of the figures has been created purely by the unpainted light beige handwoven yet smooth linen fabric, the graphic shadows have been created by a flat black paint where as the highlights of the figures and half the background has been created by a layering of white, grey and light blue tweed fabric that has been embellished with embroidery and paillettes along the seams. The other half of the background has been painted a strong blue colour. 

 
 
 

Currently my husband and I are on the journey to start our own family. Along with having to navigate a heteronormative world that is not set up to help same sex couples have children with ease, I am also navigating my own internal challenges with what it will mean for me to be a father. This piece is discussing and questioning if my love will be enough for my child and how I can ensure my child will not only have positive male role models in their life, but also strong females as well.

A question that plagues my mind every day is if my love will be valid and enough for my child. My husband and I are currently on a journey to have our first child and create our little family, however the obstacles for us as gay people are insurmountable. We currently live in Germany but due to the fact Germany does not do surrogacy for gay men we must immigrate back to my home town in Canada were it is possible. The act of having a child can be is so easy for most of the world however for gay men who so badly want to nurture have a seemingly impossible journey in front of them. We both grew up with extremely strong and loving mothers, and we often talk about how we will be able to be nurturing enough for our child. I myself believe that we as humans have the capability to encapsulate both the masculine and feminine energies, however society does not. Anonymous Portraits is a series depicting the amazing stories of everyday life were I imagine who these people are and try to relate with them. With this particular painting I wanted to showcase a soft and feminine love shown from a man.

Sean Alistair is a queer self-taught Canadian born artist currently residing in the Bavarian countryside of Germany. His art is a visual journal where he discusses the intense impact of how seemingly mundane or innocuous experiences can be to someone who is not only queer but also bipolar. Each of Sean’s Mixed Media works are completely sewn and created by hand over hundreds of hours and focus on material exploration, found objects, recycling and reworking old paintings. Due to his mental illness Sean experiences prolonged periods of mania which he has learned to utilize as a way to keep his concentration in order to finish his works. What is most important to him is that his works live and change with the light, angle or distance.