Reclining Odalisque, 30" x 40", pastel on paper, 1984. Artist's collection.

This work is a very loose blindfolded interpretation of a theme common to Ingres and Manet--the reclining "Odalisque". My reason for choosing the static, familiar "reclining nude" pose as a thematic point of departure was deliberate. I knew that my composition would be maddeningly chaotic, but arranging the visual train-wreck between the neoclassical reclining nude and blindfolded drawing was simply irresistible. The floor and the color of the sofa and background were added later without the blindfold. Everything else in the composition was performed blindfolded.