Studio Update: 

Venus update is that I am still not 100% happy with her--I have asked for the model to come in this week--and I plan to make a grid of horizontal and vertical lines to follow the form of her face. It will be a drawing of her face, that looks like cast shadows from a Venetian blind, or like a zebra! I will post how that goes in January.

Today, I completed a draft on my review of the Thus Spoke Zarathustra, a heroic nude sculpture by Peter Schipperheyn, an Australian sculptor of monumental works.

From concentrating on the review, I have been thinking a lot about the lack of heroic nudes on the contemporary art scene. I also have been aware that Christian, Muslim, and Judaism are not too keen on god-like nudes, "...no graven image..." and etc. I have also thought that contemporary humanist/individualists don't really have visual identity, and the nude is so perfect for that.

This last month I have begun about 8 works on the male nude interacting with his shadow. There are several layers to them: the shadow as alter-ego, the duality of humans; a spiritual self-portrait; and  using light to highlight the theme.

This work is called Adam Turning Away.

I am not sure of the title for this work, perhaps Dawning?

That is it for December. Enjoy your holidays everyone.

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Michael Newberry
New York--December, 2007