Started this painting with idea of doing a still life of artist figurines – finger puppets and Funko Pops. Then, thought about adding some images of artists. Morphed into using self portraits. Loved adding artists like Frank Frazetta and Boris Vallejo, ones that I idolized in my youth (and still do), to classic artists like da Vinci and mixing them in with modern artists like Matthew Barney – loved bringing all of those who’ve inspired me together – would love to be a fly on the wall at that “party.” Took liberties with the portraits – exaggerated color saturation and value contrast and changed elements of the portraits to serve the broader needs of the painting. When researching portraits, as I looked at Warhol images, was struck again (as I have been in the past) of his repeating grids – a few of his self portraits repeat the same image with varying colors in a grid. Struck me – in our current COVID-restricted environment, I’ve participated in a number of Zoom/Google meetings during the day. Staring at Brady Bunch Opening-like grids of people all day long, and saw the commonality with the Warhol paintings – his portraits seemed prophetic. Inspired by that for this painting. Also liked inserting figurines on top of a “flat” surface and creating a stark contrast – was a fun challenge getting the figurines to read as if they’re popping off the background. With this painting, I’m pushing the boundaries of what’s considered a “still life”, celebrating artists that I’ve been inspired by, and celebrating our current situation/virtual meeting culture.