Limon features a close-up profile of a man’s face wearing glasses which appear to melt and drip beyond his handlebar mustache, through his teeth, merging into a greedy tongue treatment beginning to consume this face.
A visitor of Sammie Kyng’s contemporary art studio questioned; “What is happening with the tongue?”
Kyng responded, “It IS getting quite hairy isn’t it? It’s almost like the tongue is eating the chin. I love it! And her studio visitor agreed. It certainly seems to be a hairy tongue.”
But it’s a loveable hairy tongue - if that is what you see. It’s really the defining characteristic of the piece.
“I actually proposed a few different names to a couple of my models and they both agreed it should be called Limon (pronounced LEE MOAN). The name was inspired by a street in Denver (pronounced LIE MON). I’m glad they selected it. I think it gives a more juicy aspect to the storyline.”
Did the man just eat a Lemon?
Is he dreaming about a Lemon?
Can he feel his - mouth melt of sour - as he imagines biting into a tart, juicy lemon?
The eyeless profile morphs from the top of the painting where the viewer can clearly recognize glasses and a nose, into a drippy, carpeted tongue filled with a rawness that fades into the background and ultimately consumes the chin.
“This piece really pushed the style that has evolved within my Shadow Self Series,” says Kyng. “It’s more of a micro-view portrait, approximately 60 times the size of a typical nose.
It gave me an opportunity to study every hair of his mustache and determine how to convey the hairs while blending them into the melting narrative of the piece”.
While Kyng is committed to the purpose of the Shadow Self series, she is finding elements of her Pearl Series creeping into Shadow Self body of work.
Kyng added floating pearly bubbles emerging from Limon’s mouth to lift the mood of the piece.
A great polarity exists in the piece. This interplay between gritty intensity and whimsy invites viewers to experience the artwork from multiple perspectives.
Limon represents the evolving nature of the artist's work, blending deep emotion with playful elements, and highlighting the collaborative spirit behind its creation.
