Muffler 2016

Camilla d’Errico made this painting called 'Muffler', and I’m guessing she used acrylics or maybe even some colored pencils to get this level of detail. Look at the way the giraffe coils around the girl, pink and white, soft and protective, like a living hug. You can almost feel the texture of the fur against your cheek. I imagine Camilla, in her studio, carefully building up these layers, line by line, shade by shade. What was she thinking about when she made it? Was she thinking about the need to be protected? Or about the way that love can feel both suffocating and comforting at the same time? And those eyes! The girl’s mismatched eyes reflect a sense of duality that makes you question reality, which has been a recurring theme of her paintings, like those portraits by Picasso, or even those creepy Renaissance paintings. Maybe that duality is what attracts us to these paintings. Anyway, next time you need a hug, just think of this painting and let the soft, pink giraffe wrap itself around you!