Leda Six

Leda Six is a blue manifestation of a visual idea in a series that responds to the frequently used myth of Leda’s rape by Zeus disguised as a swan, a subject usually depicted with uncritical sensuality. The topic involves both a protest and pleasure in colour development resulting in unintended colour juxtapositions affects and outcomes. Leda Six reflects a need to develop the idea to larger canvases and follows a visit to Venice and other encounters with many “Ledas”. Mindful of Yeats’s poem, Leda and the Swan, the painting includes suggestions of turbulent water, beating wings, claws and feathers.