The Loving Series / franksheehan.com

The Loving Series

Where can I start with Love?

What more can I say about this subject after so many thousands of years of written
word, music and the arts. Colors have been assigned to it, scents, moods, textures,
jewelry, even a National Holiday in the US!
And it's common for expressions of love to be displayed in public.
I felt I needed to explore this issue as I am conflicted with how my personal experience
of loving is being interpreted by my generation.

I first tried to address this theme on the cellular level by removing myself in a clinical way
from any emotion. It was an impossible task. As love is translated in so many different
ways it is a universal currency; some have more than others. Some have none.
Some allow themselves to be surrounded by it while others choose to do without.
And, like money, it can inspire Envy.
Love is power; so many people try to control who and how we love.

The Ring Triptych is a tainted ode to those of us who are not allowed to publically
recognize the partners we love with a legal bond giving us equal rights with those who
are allowed to marry. It's a simple concept but, in this denial of fundamental rights
offered to others, we are relegated to second-class citizenship. As taxpayers and
consenting adults we are an integral part of society; yet we are denied this basic
entitlement.
How can we all accept this denial of a basic civil right?

This piece is inspired by a ring-shaped shell I found as I walked on a wilderness beach
in Ireland with my mate of 25 years, the only place we felt comfortable walking hand in
hand; such a simple and everyday display of public affection. As I've witnessed the
experience of second-class citizenship in two countries, I explored the odd shape of the
shell; I painted it in three-dimensional sections to try to understand my ring-less place in
this world.
Like me the studies float in a passive undefined amniotic blood-like fluid.

As the ring is a symbol of love, dedication, and honor and is traditionally exchanged by
couples as a public acknowledgement of their own love, this series is tinged with
sadness and anger for me right now.

Click on the thumbnails below to see more of The Loving Series