Drawn in the dead of summer for the daughter of a friend I was courting — unsuccessfully — this was an attempt at being a peacock for her mom. A stippled and unrequited mating dance.
Though named after a song by Can, I drew this upon hearing David Lynch talk about where great ideas come from. “Trillions and zillions of ideas,” he said, “and they’re all there, waiting to be caught.” I wanted to communicate that sense of abundance — a kind of blossoming, voluptuous life force. Fertility run amok.
Backstory, Rob Sussman: Based off a quick sketch, this was my deepest exploration of graphite to date – pushing the tones as I exaggerated the features, integrating the levity of content into the process, and relaxing a bit to allow for a certain, simple harmony of elements.
My sons have been the center of my life for 20+ years, lighting up my existence and offering great feedback (when they can be bothered). A couple teachers at Otis and SVA, my girlfriend, my mom, lots of amazing friends. Some favorite illustrators are Drew Friedman, Chris Ware, Zoe Matthiessen, Henrik Drescher.
He wanted a moment from the final sequence of the Apartment where (spoiler alert) Jack Lemmon’s character finally expresses his love for Shirley MacClaine’s character and the only way we know how she feels about him…
On my bookshelf I have all the books knick knacks and personal items that inspire me, including a small collection of vintage television sets and a growing collection of snow domes from places I’ve been and places I would like to visit one day.
