Joy Without a Permit, Portrait Painting

Joy without a permit. My toddler niece inspired this portrait. There is something about her that makes me question whether I could ever hold a heart like hers. She never asks whether it is acceptable to laugh, to dance, to cry or to dream. She simply does her thing. That sits uncomfortably with me. I catch myself asking why we are laughing when nothing about the present day is funny, and I still tell myself that crying is a sign of weakness. I wish there were another chance to be as unapologetically free as a child, free from restraint, from overthinking, from too much self consciousness. A time when everyone gets to feel joy without needing validation or permission. Her face is built from hand painted blocks of colour, a pixel mosaic that only settles into a girl once you step back. About this piece Medium: acrylic paint on hand cut oval canvas Subject: portrait of a young African girl, contemporary African art Size: 20.32 cm W x 30.48 cm H x 2.54 cm D (8 x 12 x 1 inches) Series: one of six original works from the Kilomode Mo miniature series Edition: original, one of one. This is not a print or a reproduction Care: dust gently with a dry cloth and keep out of direct sunlight