Acrylic, oil pastel, rhinestones on canvas. 30x40"
Painting was originally made for the Sacred & Seen exhibition at the Compton Museum earlier this year. Eartha Kitt is the central figure in the painting, meant to confront feelings regarding the disalignment of external and internal identity. The mermaid, a looser, fainter figure to the left, is also posed in a minotaur like position, a reference to the early Surrealism movement. The title is a reference to a quote from Eartha, who was an LGBT advocate for her time, as well as anti-war and a feminist. She once stated "we're all rejected people, we know what it is to be refused...to be oppressed, depressed, and then accused, and I am very much cognizant of that feeling. Nothing in the world is more painful than rejection." At one point blacklisted during the red scare, she moved to Europe and was fluent in multiple languages, including French. The title is the French translation of "rejected people."