Bent wood frame, carved plaster of Paris. 32" x 22" x 1.5"
Efrain Palermo
The main theme in this piece is a microscopic protozoan called a Stentor. I recorded one with my microscope and I was always enthralled by their changing shapes. This piece creates different interpretations; some see male or female body parts, a womb, or an insectoid or frog-like face.
Kingdon Protista pertains to the scientific classification of animals: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species. The Protista group represents protozoa and unicelluar animals.
There is a story behind this painting, literally. I composed a very short story as I was doing this piece. The theme centers around giant, mutant-sized protozoa which begin to eat people caught swimming.
A Stentor gets its food by making a vortex with the cilia ringing its mouth which brings food particles toward it. In the painting there is a human body inside the stentor's food vacuole, inside the whorls of the eddies are human heads.
Sculpture primed before painting.