Mark Sheeky Artworks

About this painting

A painting about the birth of sexuality and its strange fears. A garden alluring, but somehow strange and perhaps a little fearful; the power of attraction, the danger of that power.

The idea began as a sketch of a youthful female figure, viewed from behind looking towards a distant light. The female figure was drawn out in the composition, then a few days later a horse was modelled, and a unicorn seemed like a natural addition. As part of learning to paint, I'd painted a copy of Raphael's 'Portrait of Young Woman with Unicorn', adding a burning unicorn in the sky in my version. This was perhaps on my mind during the conception of this work.