Apparently cynicism looks excellent on a wall.

Drop Dead Cynical is one of my original figurative paintings. The title came from a song my eldest son introduced me to and I thought, “THAT is an awesome name”. And, well… look at her. There really wasn’t anywhere else to go with it.

A little cynicism really does elevate a room.

I painted her here at Cherry Bomb Studio in South Glengarry, where my work has increasingly wandered into portraiture, memento mori, dark maximalism and whatever else I decide belongs there.

Case in point: the frame.

I salvaged an old – no antique – frame, rebuilt it and added hand-sculpted bits and bobs. This was one of my earlier attempts at BOUGIE PUNKING the heck out of a frame.

Looking at it now, I was remarkably restrained.

Fortunately, I recovered.

Can’t say I don’t know when we all decided everything needed to be clean, white and tasteful enough to resemble an airport lounge, but I can’t do it.

Not in Cherry Bomb Studio.

Built not Bought. The Frame

I like old ornate frames and also adding things that probably don’t belong there. I rebuild them, paint them, sculpt onto them and occasionally make questionable decisions until I’m fully satisfied that someone, somewhere is going to say, “That’s too much.”

At the end of the day, it’s a fancy old frame with shit glued to it. There. Art speak.

That’s become a big part of Bougie Punk around here. Old frames, contemporary figurative painting, memento mori, Sacred Hearts and whatever else survives my questionable decision-making.

Drop Dead Cynical is no longer available through Xanadu Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona. See available work while it is, in fact, still available.

I’m Sara Leger, a Canadian figurative artist working from Cherry Bomb Studio in South Glengarry, Ontario. My original paintings and sculpted mixed-media work are held in private collections across Canada and the United States.

You can see my available original artwork at saraleger.com/art.

The cynicism, apparently, is complimentary.