Dahlia Darling

DAHLIA DARLING Acrylic & Pastel on Canvas | 48" × 48" | 2021

She is looking directly at you. She has decided you can handle it.

Dahlia Darling is a portrait of complete, unapologetic presence — a figure in a deep burgundy corset, black choker, blue eyes that have seen considerably more than they are currently letting on, set against a ground of near-black and deep purple alive with dark dahlias and hot pink splashes that feel simultaneously decorative and slightly dangerous. Her rouge is high. Her red lips are set. Her expression is the expression of someone who has been underestimated before and found it useful.

The dahlias surround her like a court — dark, voluptuous, the flowers of gothic romance and fin-de-siècle excess — painted in deep burgundy and purple against the black ground with the loose, layered quality of acrylic and pastel working together. They are her world and she is their queen and neither of them is particularly interested in your opinion about it.

The pastel marks bring a softness to the surface that the subject refuses to have — a deliberate tension between the medium and the sitter that makes the painting more interesting the longer you look at it. The tattoo. The choker. The number 3 reversed in the upper right like a private notation, a secret kept in plain sight.

Dahlia Darling is a painting about a woman who knows exactly who she is. Which is the most powerful subject any portrait can have.

📦 Shipping & Details

• 48" × 48" original on canvas
• Acrylic and pastel
• Signed and dated 2021
• Ships carefully rolled in a professional tube
• Upon arrival we recommend professional stretching and framing
• Prefer it shipped pre-stretched? Contact us before purchasing for a shipping quote at cost
• Certificate of authenticity included

One original. No reproductions. She has decided you can handle it.