 We Are Here Lilia Levin pen and ink on paper, 8.5" x 7"; SOLD Exhibited at Village West in Wherefore Art Spring 2019 |
Olivia: I prithee, tell me what thou thinkest of me.
Viola: That you do think you are not what you are.
Olivia: If I think so, I think the same of you.
Viola: Then think you right, I am not what I am.
-- Twelfth Night, Act III, Scene 1
Deception. Through disguise, dissembling, pretense, lies. Short-term or life-long, comical or cruel, skin-deep or soul-deep, accidental, or what Shakespeare calls "device". There is every kind of deception in Shakespeare, from high treason to self-deception. Shakespeare knows his characters better than they know each other and themselves. Well, of course, they are his creation. But take a real life already lived. The women in my drawings want to unravel and reveal all, re-evaluate, relive and, of course, the word "relieve" begs to follow these r-l-v verbs, and then the noun "pain", but these women do not wish to be melodramatic, they only want to make sense of things and to open their eyes.
If you are interested in purchasing this work, please contact Lilia Levin or visit lilialevin.nyc.