A Real⚡️Shocker⚡️

Currently on view in THE FORGOTTEN ESTATE, a Victorian-themed group exhibition at JAWBONE Gallery in Cape May, NJ, is my new oil painting, Volta.

The painting is an homage to Alessandro Volta, inventor of the voltaic pile, the first electric battery. His work helped shape the age of electrical experimentation that fed the imagination of Mary Shelley and her masterpiece, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.

I wanted to take a crack at my own Victorian muse, someone who might have a little inside scoop on how Volta came up with the idea to harness electricity. Maybe she’s a mistress watching over the experiment. Could she be royalty who demanded to see it firsthand? Or is she Mary Shelley herself? Whoever she is, she’s a fitting complement to power.

Mixing up some of my favorite inspirations, I threw in some John Singer Sargent, a little James McNeill Whistler, and a pinch of Guillermo del Toro for this piece.

Volta is currently on view in THE FORGOTTEN ESTATE through November 16.