Pride Art: Psychedelic O’Keeffe by Denise Cumming

Psychedelic O’Keeffe by Denise Cumming

Denise Cumming explains, I made Psychedelic O’Keeffe as an homage to Georgia O’Keefe whose art and life has always been an inspiration to me. The female figure with a male elk skull celebrates the masculine and feminine within us all. While I don’t believe you can just slap a rainbow on things and call it “pride” I believe that rainbow colors DO evoke a sense of pride to those of us who embrace the symbolism. I suppose one could interpret the human face being obscured by the skull as a mask or the opposite of “out and proud”… I prefer to think of it as loudly and proudly proclaiming “Queer to the bone!”

About the Artist

Denise Cumming (US): I am a self-taught artist and experimental photographer who likes to play with motion, time and light to create abstract images. While I currently reside in Tennessee, I spent many years living and working in the American West which greatly influenced my artistic endeavors. Wide-open vistas, vibrant colors, big sky and horizons often show up my work. I wish I could say that my art has some bigger message or meaning but I must admit it is really just escapism into pretty colors. Escape from the divisiveness, nationalism, intolerance, gun violence and many inequities that plague my country at the moment. I vote. I speak up. But I still feel helpless incredulity, embarrassment and fear for the future. So, I make stuff, go places, grow things, look up at the night sky and try to cherish every moment spent with my wife of 22 years.