The Baby Clown

My most recent, and possibly one of my biggest sales to date. The Baby Clown. Clown Madonna seemed a little too on the nose for a title.

I can't remember if I've written here about my clown fascination beyond the work I did for the Toronto Clown Festival some years back. It was the last one, I think. The organizers got exhausted by the red tape and marketing challenges, which is a shame. It was a great city-wide multi-venue festival.

From my original few clown paintings, I sold my shibari bondage guy (The Knave of Hearts) shortly after the covid restrictions began to lift. Hadn't really added to the series for quite a while...

But yeah, my interest in clowns started germinating long ago, first with the vague idea of escaping my mundane life to join a circus and start over. I always felt outcast and rejected as a kid, so that was a featured fantasy. Then I got to see some Kids in the Hall, and one sketch in particular burned itself into my retinas.

A board room meeting. Ideas pouring out. Each one, more ridiculous than the last. Finally, one of them takes a sip of coffee, spits it out, and asks if it was made by a naked clown. The scene ends with a view shift to the break room, where a naked clown is working away at a coffee machine. Fin. So simple, and so lasting.

Then, cut to 2012 or 2013, I began dancing at Lunacy Cabaret, which was a Circus that ran in Toronto's East End. Life in the green room saw regular human beings transform and evolve into their true being. I got to see theater from all directions. Behind, on stage, and also from the audience, when I'd run down from the fire escape to see the show, or cash in a drink ticket.

I've taken a few clown classes. I wouldn't insult experts of the craft by calling myself one, but I do see myself as clown in a weird morphological sense. I'm not physically expressive enough to claim that level of artistry, but I relate on a primal level.

I think therein lies many peoples' phobias, too. Clowns are the manifestation of hyperbolic expression. The colour, the movement, the feelings - more human than human. They're uncanny, which some people can't handle. Like cilantro, I guess. (I love cilantro).

AND. I may have just sold another clown piece today. A much smaller one. I'll share it when I can.

~Rachel
Rachelsvparry @ Gmail.com