D.VE

‘The Smile’

The Smile 1/3
Hand cut stencil spray painted & balloons full of spray paint popped on Arches Aquarelle, Natural White, 4 Deckle edges, 640 g/m² 56 x 76 cm, 2026

The Smile 2/3
Hand cut stencil spray painted & balloons full of spray paint popped on Arches Aquarelle, Natural White, 4 Deckle edges, 640 g/m² 56 x 76 cm, 2026

The Smile 3/3
Hand cut stencil spray painted & balloons full of spray paint popped on Arches Aquarelle, Natural White, 4 Deckle edges, 640 g/m² 56 x 76 cm, 2026

Paint:
MTN 94 R-9011 Matt Black
MTN 94 R-9010 Matt White

For this piece I wanted to experiment with using the shatter to bring a new meaning to the statue. Shattering the statue in this particular leaves the figure with an unsettling forced smile. For this subject I chose a bust of Ptolemy XIII who by all accounts had a bad run at it despite being pharaoh. This is the 60x80cm hand cut stencil of the piece, with an inverted version for an impression of how it will look when it’s sprayed.

An aggressive reimagining of the Screaming Child Stung by a Bee piece, attributed to Hendrick de Keyser (c. 1615), in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Edition of 2. Hand cut stencil spray painted & balloons full of spray paint popped on Arches Aquarelle, Natural White, 4 Deckle edges, 640 g/m² 56 x 76 cm.
Montana Black BLK400 Copperchrome, MTN 94 R-9011 Matt Black, MTN 94 R-9010 Matt White

Anytime I go to a new city to paint I go to a local museum and hope to find a a new statue to reference for a future piece. When I came across ‘Screaming Child Stung by a Bee’ at Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam I had to look no further. The expression in the piece and the story behind it made it an ideal reference for a shattering bust. This sculpture probably depicts Cupid, the god of love, who was stung by a bee after stealing some honey. The incident is described in a poem attributed to the Greek poet Theocritus which suggests that a sting from a Bee with the taste of honey can be as bittersweet darts of love shot by Eros himself. Part of this practice is deciding the point of impact for the initial shatter. With this one the clear choice was to make it happen where the Bee sting’s the child.

Once thievish Love the honeyed hives would rob,
When a bee stung him: soon he felt a throb
Through all his finger-tips, and, wild with pain,
Blew on his hands and stamped and jumped in vain.
To Aphrodite then he told his woe:
'How can a thing so tiny hurt one so?'
She smiled and said; 'Why thou'rt a tiny thing,
As is the bee; yet sorely thou canst sting.’

       

Last October I was visiting Amsterdam to check out the and paint a stencil out there. Anytime I go to a city on an art mission I try to check out a local museum and hope to find a a new statue to reference for a future piece. Which is exactly what happened at when I came across ‘Screaming Child Stung by a Bee’. Here is the 60x80cm hand cut stencil of the piece shattering I made, with an inverted version for an impression of how it will look when it’s sprayed.
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Painted on a shipping container at the , Amsterdam
22nd October 2025. This portrait of Medusa is the first in the next evolution of the shattering statues. Utilizing the wall by making the side the pieces is falling towards the point of impact, the resulting shatter becomes a reaction to the environment. 200 x 240cm Hand-cut stencils, spray painted on wall

'Neptune' 250x320cm hand cut stencil painted at Treptower Park! This one meant a lot, the first piece I painted when I started taking spray painting murals seriously was of Neptune, it's come a long way since then. Thanks to for the wall!
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