Ellen Starr Lyon

Metallica Tie Dye (2020)
oil on panel
12 x 12 in.
NFS

Home. We have all been participating in some version of quarantine during these strange times. I want to first acknowledge my privilege. My family remains healthy and my husband and I still have our jobs. As an artist, I am thrilled to have more time to make art.

This is a portrait of my son asleep in bed. It is about the transition from boy to man but has also come to symbolize this quarantine. Sleeping has become a coping mechanism: a luxury and a sign of mild depression. This painting now has a tinge of darkness whereas before, it was about a mother seeing her baby in the sleeping face of her almost grown son.

artist’s website

© Ellen Starr Lyon