Disturbing the devil with lights on at night

Meg Stoios, 2022, Watercolour on paper, 56.6 x 76.7cm

SOLD

Written response to Disturbing the devil with lights on at night 

By Robert Ten Eyck (model)

As a child I was obsessed with mimicking everyday activities I’d seen in films. I aspired to be like the adults. Such interesting creatures with a purpose to everything they did. Watching Beauty and the Beast I would circle my lounge room holding a stack of books and rehearse dropping them in the mud like Belle would in the movie. If you’ve seen the movie I’m sure you’re aware of this moment. It is a triumph of vulnerability and strength as yet unrivalled in art that has followed it. 

Most of all I wanted to sleep like people did in movies. Arms up to my face, hands as pillows. It was so chic. It WAS sleeping. Everything else was just unconsciousness. So I must have started to try and sleep like this. What started as a performance of someone sleeping has now become how I sleep all the time. Foetal position, preferably left side, hands as pillow.

I read somewhere that sleeping on your side helped flush the toxins from your brain and prevents Alzheimer’s. This makes it kind of worth it. But this painting is where I am vindicated years later. Turns out that odd child was simply in rehearsal for this work. A kind of bizarre long form art piece that lead us here to this moment.

As for the skeleton I cannot speak to their childhood, however they were incredibly easy to work with on set.