Vis Insita.
“The vis insita, or innate force of matter is a power of resisting, by which every body, as much as in it lies, endeavors to preserve in its present state…”
– Sir Isaac Newton, Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica.
This one’s quite personal and one of my favourite, even if there are all kinds of niggling flaws. Obviously the skin tones and strange jigsaw musculature of the figure are my invention. My model’s a little thin, but he’s not the luminescent leper with a distended torso you see here hanging around looking sulky in a badly painted corridor.
Without getting into too much depth, this one’s about being on the cusp of a decision about whether or not you’re going to try and be a better person, and knowing the answer is “probably not.”
Oil on cotton. (Approx 48"x24")
