The stories behind my art: “Sympathy For The Devil”

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“Sympathy For The Devil” by Mia Makila, 2010 – acrylic on canvas

In 2010 I was invited to participate in a group show in Culver City, California – but I hesitated a long time before I agreed to do it, because I was deep into the struggles of my creativity blockage and in a new depression because of it.

When I started to work on “Sympathy For The Devil” I soon felt how I was struggling with the style, composition and with self doubting. I wasn’t having fun, I was in a war with myself.

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Working on “Sympathy For The Devil” in 2010.

I couldn’t seem to get it right. It lacked the playfulness and the energy I always see in my paintings. I felt dissatisfied. But I kept struggling; painting, changing, painting, changing…

DSC_0026symp1I wasn’t pleased with the result (first image in this post), but I thought it was good enough to send.

But the troubles with this painting didn’t end there.

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Shipping day! Here are I am on my way to ship “Sympathy To The Devil” to the USA.

After I had sent the painting on its way to the States, I received some devastating news from the gallery.

“Sympathy For The Devil” had been totally destroyed in the shipping process! I was crushed!

These are the pictures the gallery sent:

After I’d overcome the shock, I started to work on a new painting to send, I had to start over with a new idea – but I kept the style of it. The result was “Little Grace With Killer Doll”:

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And it made it safely to the States and the gallery. But I never saw “Sympathy For The Devil” again.

The stories behind my art: “Dreamgirl”

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“Dreamgirl” by Mia Makila, 2012 (digital mixed media)

I created the digital piece “Dreamgirl” in 2012, 3 years after I took the photograph of my muse Domenique that I used as a base for the digital artwork.

The photo session with Domenique was inspired by “The Last Sitting” – by Bert Stern where he snapped the last pictures of Marilyn Monroe before they were featured in Vogue the same year she died.

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From “The Last Sitting” photo session by Bert Stern (1962) where Marilyn Monroe where posing officially for the last time in her life.

My original photograph of Domenique that I used for “Dreamgirl”:

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My original photo of my muse Domenique, posing as Marilyn, inspired by Stern’s pictures.

I also made two other versions of “Dreamgirl” by painting and adding new details and textures to the original fine art print:

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Outtakes from my Marilyn photo session with Domenique: DSC_0135sssmarilyn14DSC_0219aaasmarilyn31DSC_0339

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This is one of my favorite paintings I’ve ever done (“That girl in The Piano movie just wet her pants between takes, 1993”) – I will base my new collection of works on the style of it.

That Girl

My sunshine is not for sale

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 My sunshine. Precious and wild. Sacred. You can’t steal it, buy it, denounce it, ignore it, degrade it, distort it, hide it, judge it, ban it, claim it, shame it, destroy it, punish it, expel it, stain it, fuck it, hate it, reduce it, ridicule it, condemn it.

It is mine.

It is me.