"Blue" on PLATFORM - Mieke Marple

Erotic Garden (Blue Mirror), 2022, acrylic and metal foil on canvas, 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm)

Erotic Garden (Blue Mirror) (detail), 2022, acrylic and metal foil on canvas, 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm)

Erotic Garden (Blue Girl), 2022, acrylic and metal foil on canvas, 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm)

Erotic Garden (Blue Mirror), 2022, acrylic and metal foil on canvas, 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm)

Erotic Garden (Blue Girl) (detail), 2022, acrylic and metal foil on canvas, 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm)

Erotic Garden (Blue Leaves), 2022, acrylic and metal foil on canvas, 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm)

Erotic Garden (Blue Leaves) (detail), 2022, acrylic and metal foil on canvas, 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm)

Erotic Garden (Blue Dandelion), 2022, acrylic and metal foil on canvas, 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm)

Erotic Garden (Blue Dandelion) detail, 2022, acrylic and metal foil on canvas, 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm)

Blue for Platform Art is the next evolution in Mieke Marple's Erotic Garden series, which she began as an Internet Archive Resident in 2018. The Erotic Garden appropriates parts of etchings by the Marquis von Bayros who, in the early 20^th century, was commissioned by European aristocracy to make erotic material. In Marple's paintings, von Bayros's etchings have been altered through cropping, color, materiality, and added elements (such as a dandelion for a head) to fit a more contemporary feminist perspective. The works in Blue are inspired by Maggie Nelson's prose poem "Bluets." They are an emotional study—a visual investigation into longing and melancholy—that continues Marple's ongoing interest in narrative, sexuality, and emotional cataloging.