Paul Flippen

Paul Flippen

Paul Flippen

Colorado

USA

This body of work, inspired by the birth of my son, explores the complications of love, pleasure, and the act of creation – literal and metaphorical, biological and artistic. Pollinating birds and bees suggestively interact with abstractions derived from decorative patterns of antique marriage certificates – a union of instinctive desire with cultural expectations of formalized relationships. These crisply painted elements are layered over digital transfers of the chemical synthesis of progesterone (the “pregnancy hormone” necessary for healthy fetal development, and a major ingredient in many forms of birth control). These images are further layered over manipulated lace patterns found on internet photographs of lingerie and wedding dresses – mechanized patterns that, like lace itself, exist simultaneously to display and obscure.