Tricky Business

Year: 2023
Medium: Acrylic on watercolor paper
Dimensions: 24 × 30 inches
Inspiration: Adult humor, awkward intimacy, comic strips, sexual misunderstandings, and the absurdity of human relationships.

Sex is one of those things that people take incredibly seriously, which is funny considering how absolutely ridiculous it can be.

We spend so much time worrying about looking attractive, knowing what we're doing, impressing someone, and making sure everything goes perfectly. But the reality is that intimacy can be awkward, confusing, embarrassing, and sometimes just downright hilarious.

That's where Tricky Business comes from.

This painting is a short, completely inappropriate comic strip about a couple trying to navigate a rather awkward sexual encounter. What should be a relatively straightforward situation quickly turns into a series of misunderstandings, questionable instructions, and increasingly ridiculous facial expressions.

The story begins with a man struggling to figure out exactly what he's supposed to be doing, while his partner becomes increasingly frustrated with his lack of understanding.

She tells him what to do, he takes her instructions a little too literally, and the entire situation escalates into an absurd punchline involving the phrase "use your head."

And apparently, he does.

What makes this painting funny to me isn't necessarily the sexual content itself. It's the complete lack of communication between the characters. They're both participating in the same situation, but somehow neither one seems to understand what the other person actually wants.

I think there's something wonderfully human about that.

We like to imagine ourselves as confident, intelligent, and capable of understanding the people around us. But sometimes we're just two idiots trying to figure something out while making the entire situation unnecessarily complicated.

The painting uses a traditional comic-book layout, with bold black outlines, exaggerated expressions, and a deep red background that gives the entire piece a slightly dramatic appearance. The limited color palette keeps the attention on the characters and their increasingly ridiculous interaction.

I also chose to present the artwork in an ornate wooden frame, which creates a contrast I find particularly entertaining.

There's something hilarious about taking a crude, immature joke and presenting it like a sophisticated piece of fine art. Someone might walk past it thinking they're looking at a serious illustration, only to realize they're staring at a cartoon about a guy who doesn't understand sexual instructions.

That's exactly the kind of reaction I enjoy creating.

I love artwork that surprises people. Sometimes that means creating something emotional or thought-provoking, and sometimes it means making someone laugh because they weren't expecting something so inappropriate to be hanging on a wall.

There's also something interesting about how uncomfortable people can become when sexuality is presented openly, especially through humor. We live in a world where sex is everywhere, yet people can still become embarrassed by something as simple as a dirty joke.

I think humor is a great way to challenge that discomfort.

Not everything involving sexuality has to be provocative, romantic, or deeply meaningful. Sometimes it's just funny because human beings are awkward creatures who occasionally have absolutely no idea what they're doing.

And honestly, I think that's worth celebrating.

This painting isn't intended to deliver some profound message about love, intimacy, or relationships. It's a ridiculous little story about miscommunication, taking things too literally, and how quickly an ordinary situation can become completely absurd.

Sometimes art is about expressing pain. Sometimes it's about exploring identity, questioning society, or confronting uncomfortable truths.

And sometimes it's about a guy being told to use his head.

Apparently, communication really is the key to a successful relationship.