LILY PRILLINGER
Little Deaths, 2003
Acrylic and polymer on canvas
Series of twenty paintings

The Little Deaths series is a literal exploration of a popular erotic metaphor. As it is commonly used, the term 'little death' (la petite morte) refers to the brief loss of selfhood during orgasm that foreshadows our ultimate obliteration in death. In the book, Eroticism, Georges Bataille asserts that the erotic is fundamentally a violation of the pure self, and as a result, is (unconsciously) linked with death. The term 'little death' is unabashedly kinky as it meanders between that which it signifies and its literal meaning. Specifically, 'little death' is a peculiar figure of speech in that it is charged with various hideous and finite connotations, yet simultaneously operates as a candid proxy for the elusive, presumably pleasurable climax of erotic bliss.

As a figurative painter, I wanted to literally* explore the concept of the 'little death'. (I was less interested in trying to paint this term's implications towards erotic bliss - and the blandly provocative representational depictions of 'lovemaking' that could ensue.) Rather, I wanted to explore the violent delicacy of tragicomic narrative painting. As a result, this series literally tells stories of little deaths.

Each painting in this series depicts 'death', or more specifically, the moment at which death is about to seize the occupants of each tiny canvas. In the spirit of horror filmmaking, I felt that each scene would be more engaging if I foreshadowed what was 'about to happen.' I chose to depict the banal moments before death, so that the horror and obscenity of death would be up to the imagination of the viewer. I also liked the fact that by omitting the visual effect of death, that I would allow death to be more 'unspeakably' obscure. One scene, for example, depicts a man sleeping in bed while the embers of his lit cigarette are falling to the floor. I didn't want to show him burning-to-a-crisp, because I felt this would be inherently less dramatic. In doing so, I was able to capitalize on the fact that the sleeping man is not dead - he is frozen in his last moments of life. I felt that these moments, which straddle the bridge between life and death, were more allegorically loaded than blunt depictions of death-as-aftermath. Generally speaking, this series alludes to a wide breadth of terminal mishap, which includes killer bees, electrocution, unopened parachutes, poisonous toadstools, tornados, collisions, and the obligatory overdose. (Perhaps the most unlikely hint towards physical demise occurs at the hands of angry baboons.) Even so, each painting was intended to conjure up the anxiety that precipitates death.

My most obvious literal interpretation of 'little death' is indicated by the size of the work. Each painting is quite small (all measure 5 inches in height.) As a narrative device the width of each painting varies slightly, but when installed side-by-side, each painting reads as a singular progression; a funeral procession with a pop sensibility. (The entire length of the installed Little Deaths is 5" x 117".) This linear installation allows the paintings to be interpreted as equivalents in the same bungled journey - towards death, albeit little.

* My literal exploration of the 'little death' concept involved acts of figurative painting. Gratuitous acts of violence against others or myself were not included in this project.