Space Cadet

Description

Space Cadet: The 36″ X 36″ oil painting on wood panel is #28 in my robot series.

The subject on this one is all about leaving home for the first time. The parent robot is smiling on its face, but inside it is full of the “fear of the unknown” (note the expression on the chest). The lights on the chest and the shoulder of the larger robot show how other parents deal with their child’s need to wander away from home. One parent appears to be coaxing the child to “go, go get in line”, while the one on the shoulder appears to be yanking the child by the arm, as if scolding them for wanting to get on the ride. The tribute to “STIK’s”  street art of the mother and two children painted on the wall is there to illustrate one more way that parents deal with their kidz wanting to leave home. In this case, she appears to be pulling the larger child closer to her in a loving manner as if to say “not yet, you are still too young for leaving just yet.” The young baby in her arms is looking in the opposite direction, too young to even realize there is another world outside of its mother’s armz.

Also note the OBEY sticker on the parental unit, that’s because good kidz are supposed to obey their parents. The child appears to be in the process of saying “WOOOOOOWWW” as he looks with wide eyes of wonder at the glittery streamlined rocket ride.

Being that the atomic number 28 represents Nickel, the ride costs a nickel. Did you know nickel has 28 proton and electrons? Yeah well, neither did I until I researched deeper into the number as I was working on my drawings and elements for this painting. But 28, hey, I thought it was quite fitting.

The background is full of hidden messages, famous quotes by Confucius, Hunter Thompson, Jonah Lehrer and even… myself.  The Mother robot’s upper chest reads “Humans Turn Me On” in color on color making it one of the last thingz one sees when looking for hidden messages.

The clear coat on the rocket is imbedded with glitter on the original painting to give it a sparkle, even in low light situations. The full size 36 X 36 Giclees also feature glitter in the clear coat to make it dance in the light. On the original panel, the rocket also features found object amber light covers which add a third dimension to the panel.

I have painted the Banksy stencil of the girl and loosed balloon as a tribute to Carrie Fisher’s passing on the lower right side of the ride platform. She passed away unexpectedly while I was working on this painting.

The travel poster nods to the SpaceX’s plans for a Mars Mission with a few jokes mixed in for your consideration. The mountain peaks reveal several reasons that kid’s might leave home (military, college sports, academics, enlightenment, travel).

And don’t miss the Bible verse, John 3:17, that is scrawled on the base of the ride, or the white cross scratched into the base of the ride, or the HALO logo on the small robot’s forehead… all these little things have meaning as well. Look it up, I’ll leave that one up to you to figure out.

Be sure to watch the time lapse on my Facebook page of this one, I added music this time.

The original Painting sold 03.04.2017 and is no longer available. It is in a private collection in San Diego California.