Bedtime Fortress

Matt Frock

Bedtime Fortress, Oil paint on linen. 100 x 100 x 2 cm,  2023

“Bedtime Fortress” calls on conflicting memories of the artist from past and presence. The painting is immediately a depiction of where his son sleeps. A bed covered in a textile “fortress.” The artist has warm memories of playing in textile fortresses when he was a boy. Upon further examination, the energy in the strokes of light contrasted by rigid dark strokes implies an architecture skewed off it’s foundation and oppressed by a powerful light. Blue swoosh marks suggest a deluge has penetrated the landscape. The peaceful bedtime sanctuary simultaneously resembles a church sinking into the landscape like a drowning ship. The artist fearing for the safety of his children has become a common theme since he’s become a father.