Troy Gua came over to my place and chose something he liked from my stash of vintage Paint by Numbers to alter for our BUMBER BY NUMBER art show.
Father and Son
Troy photographed his finished "After" pieces before adding the beautiful resin finish
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He also wrote an artist's statement about this piece, below...
Father and Son
My dad had a thing for clowns. In fact, he collected these clown figurines that were set in quartz and painted with 24K gold. They were made by an artist named Ron Lee and they were sold at Weisfield's Jewelers. They were kitsch, but they were sold at a jewelry store and painted with gold, so somehow that elevated them to a level beyond kitsch, at least to him. My dad grew up tough, he grew up poor, and he grew up wishing he could be funny, but felt he never was. For the record, he was - intentionally or not I can't say for sure. Anyway, I think these clown statues were an attempt at filling some pock marks in his upbringing.
I've been thinking about my dad a lot this year. He would've been 80 as I turned 40. He was my age when I was born. There was a natural generational gap there, obviously, but despite the age difference, my dad and I got along when I was younger, for the most part. As I grew older, I grew to understand him, respect him, and actually think of him as a hero, but as much love as I had for my father, I don't think he ever really *got* me. He supported me, he was proud of me, he told me I was a great kid, but that's not the same thing. There was always a slight disconnect in the wavelengths. And that's ok. That's just the way it felt, and I feel like I'm not the only one who feels like this about their parents, but I don't presume.
When I saw these paintings-to-be-altered in JoDavid and Marlow Harris' collection for Bumber By Number, I knew immediately that they were the ones for me. They were the ones that I wanted to somehow elevate. They're a tribute to my dad, Don Gua, and my attempt at filling some pock marks, at connecting the wavelengths. Thanks for the opportunity Jo and Marlow.
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