The Fictitious Secret History of Aspartame by Mark Sheeky
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G1221A The Fictitious Secret History of Aspartame
Oil on canvas panel
May 2018 to Jun 2021, 330x230 mm

Detail from The Fictitious Secret History of Aspartame by Mark Sheeky Detail from The Fictitious Secret History of Aspartame by Mark Sheeky Detail from The Fictitious Secret History of Aspartame by Mark Sheeky Detail from The Fictitious Secret History of Aspartame by Mark Sheeky

About this painting
A painting of irony and fun about the artificial sweetener aspartame, and the various conspiracy theories about it. We see a dead baby, and a pantomime villain cowering over a graveyard - of victims? A rainbow promises joy, or perhaps the hue of confectionary... a lure perhaps? The hook indicates yes. Two hook shapes in the cloud mimic figures in dialogue, or perhaps fists; visual echoes of the villain's spiral eyes.

When composing the painting, I was concerned with the abstract symphonic elements, a unified theme and focusing on the emotion of the work, which here is sinister yet dramatic with irony. I traced the original sketch to paper, then enhanced it, duplicating some shapes and curves to create an effect like in the piano music I improvise, thus it is an example of 'symphonic painting'; an image which uses a shape-theme which is repeated and altered, like the themes in a work of classical music.

The Fictitious Secret History of Aspartame (Original)
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