"When I began working with confectionary landscapes as subject matter, I wanted to approach the idea like an explorer in a new and strange place. I always start a painting by first building a maquette in the studio. This allows me to look at the scenery and be surprised by what I see. Building candyland is a way of being in it, of making it real for me. The maquettes don't survive, they melt and deteriorate and rot, so the painting becomes a record of a place which was real but has ceased to exist. Like the mythological 'land of Cockaigne,' candyland is an imagined utopia whose exact geographical location is elusive. It's the idea of a land of plenty where all is pleasure and there's no such thing as work. It's about imagining the possibility of constant indulgence." Will Cotton
Will Cotton is interesting to me because he makes these scenes with candy and sweets and this idea of a utopia. He uses very fleshy but light colors, whites pinks, and he uses a very saturated color to tie his pieces together and make them look like a too good to be true moment. I love his want to capture and portray this land and constant existence of pleasure. The pieces make me think of a positive version of gluttony, or a dream with the way everything has sort of an atmospheric quality.
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