"Self-portrait as a Flapper"

(oil on canvas, 24X36, 2009)

"Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-incurred immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one's own understanding without the guidance of another. This immaturity is self-incurred if its cause is not lack of understanding, but lack of resolution and courage to use it without the guidance of another. The motto of enlightenment is therefore: Sapere aude! Have courage to use your own understanding!"
Immanuel Kant

One often hears people say, "I wish I was born during ...(fill in some historic time period)." As a child I used to say things like that as well, however, nowadays I understand that if given an opportunity (which I believe I was) I'd still choose our time to live in. I just can't quite picture myself beating laundry against a rock or going to a blacksmith to remove an infected tooth...

Although, if time travel was actually possible I wouldn't mind visiting the Roaring Twenties. Since my early twenties I've developed a fascination with the 1920's which managed to last to this day. So in a way it's surprising that it took me over a decade to paint a self-portrait as a Flapper. Now that I think of it, I realize that nothing can be more appropriate than being fascinated with the Roaring Twenties while one is in their twenties, (and not just because of the name we call that time period). That decade was the time when people became more self-aware, when women realized that they are just as worthy as men are, when arts and culture took a giant leap forward and people stopped feeling guilty about enjoying life. In a way it's somewhat of a parallel to what modern people experience in their twenties - fun, self-descovery, finding your place in life. All great things! Though, now that I'm in my thirties I realize that I'm perfectly happy with where I am today. I still like to reminisce about being twenty-something, but going back there... No, thank you!