Portraits from the Gallery of the Royal Palace of Hearts at Wonderland
Styles Akira
2012
This suite of four oil paintings is purportedly created by “a member of the Royal Court.” In Akira’s artist statement he delves into the nature of the people depicted, for example positing that the twin brothers (Tweedledum and Tweedledee) resting beneath a tree symbolize balance, the “yin and yang—interchangeably and irrespectively.” Humpty Dumpty is an “egg headed” character modeled on self-important literary critics from Victorian times, down to the period dress. Genuine egg shells, now cracked from his recent fall from the ledge, form his upper body.