Artistic Liecense 015: Aliza Razell. “imbue [ii].” 2015.

Aliza Razell. imbue [ii]. 2015.

Was this what happened when an artist loved an a-ha song (really, the a-ha song, let’s be honest) too much? Or read too much about Harold and his purple crayon as a kid? Maybe not—Gina hated ’80s pop and had been a Berenstain Bears fan. Was she a witch? people wondered. The most wiccan things about her were a Stevie Nicks record and a row of salsa-related herbs growing on her balcony.

No, this was a testimony to the strength of will. Proof of what results from clear intentions. Up to this point, the longing was there, but the path murky. “I want someone in my life,” she’d originally thought. There were lots of someones in her world. “No, I want someone to love.” She had many lovable friends. “I mean, romantic love. True-love love.” She’d go on dates, but none of those guys knew how to be what she wanted. Worse, she was astonished to know that she didn’t even know how to tell them. She’d trusted that someone, everything would just fall into place when the time came. There’d be a lot of kismet and serendipity and all that going on.

But after years of delays and mistakes, Gina decided that kismet/serendipity/et al. could use some help.

Creating a man was hardly a new concept. As far as some religions were concerned, it was one of God’s very first acts. Some had tried to duplicate such efforts, attempting to sculpt their ideas of perfection from clay, cloth, rock, precious metals. These efforts fell short. They’d crumble under pressure. They’d melt under heat. They were too hard and rough or too soft and yielding. They lacked intelligence and charm.

Gina, skilled with inks and watercolors even though her desk job had threatened to erase those talents, stretched a wide piece of paper across the floor like a Hollywood red carpet, an idea half-formed in her mind but growing more and more defined. She drew and she painted, thinking not of her failed relationships of the past but on something she never had—to be honest, something she never thought it was possible to have. With every brush and every stroke, she didn’t just imagine being in love, she really felt it. Gone was the rollercoaster romance she’d always pictured, replaced by feelings of ease and comfort and happiness and trust.

When she was done, the piece was not what most might considered finished, but that was purposeful: it left room for surprises. All the essentials were there. The drawn man twitched on the paper as Gina breathed life over him and stroked his paper arms. With great effort, he pressed himself off the floor, off the paper, and she held on to his wrists, helping him to his feet. His legs quivered, being upright for the first time, but his smile didn’t falter. Instead, it was contagious. Gina beamed, watching color seep into his skin and his shape taking form. All this magic, right before her eyes. She couldn’t wait to see what happened next.

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Artist Aliza Razell combines watercolors and black-and-white portrait photos in Photoshop to create these surreal pieces. For more, visit https://www.flickr.com/photos/74145579@N02/.

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