jay rechsteiner

How to Make a Monster / Paintings and works on paper

Monster Boy

These paintings depict me as a child and as an adult wearing a “monster hat”. The hat is not literal. It stands for the pressure exerted by society and circumstance to mould individuals into prescribed forms, and for the effect that pressure can have on how we understand ourselves.

Paintings

Monster Boy
acrylic on canvas, 96 × 90 cm
Adult Monster Boy dreaming of childhood
acrylic on canvas, 61 × 60 cm
Five-year old Monster Boy
acrylic on canvas, 102 × 102 cm
Castrated & Self-aware
acrylic on canvas, 177 × 85 cm
Jay and Thona - Monster Brothers
acrylic on canvas, 76 × 76 cm
Realisation of Being a Monster
acrylic on canvas, 118 × 84 cm

The original archive described a possible additional 177 × 180 cm element for Castrated & Self-aware as “in progress”. Its completion is not documented here.

Family photographs of the Monster Boy

Inkjet, pencil and acrylic on paper.

Family photographs of the Monster Boy on display
Exhibition view
Monster Boy family photograph 1
Monster Boy family photograph 2
Monster Boy family photograph 3
Monster Boy family photograph 4
Monster Boy family photograph 5
Monster Boy family photograph 6
Monster Boy family photograph 7
Monster Boy family photograph 8
Monster Boy family photograph 9
Monster Boy family photograph 10
Monster Boy family photograph 11
Monster Boy family photograph 12
Monster Boy family photograph 13
Monster Boy family photograph 14
Monster Boy family photograph 15

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