Giant of Joy

On a serene blue gradient background that references the scorching hot sky over the desert in the summer days, a giant, magnificent cactus is dominating its surroundings. We do not get to see where this cactus exists - the landscape is merely hinted at through its background.

The "Giant of Joy" is a symbolic picture: putting to rest all doubt and rumination - it just exists. It affirms itself into an eternal present moment - taking up a front-and-center place within the space it so proudly occupies.

Thick color dabs create this sculptural plant - the artist has used high quality oil paints mixed with medium in order to get a profoundly glowing and rich texture out of all colors.

Virtosu's approach for this work was to first create the intricate shape of the cactus and then cover it with masking tape in order to spray-paint the acrylic background gradient. Then, after removing the masking tape, the artist painted the white canvas surface of the cactus with oil colors.