Living Portrait
It all started in a quite usual manner. A rich woman is about to turn fifty and she wants a portrait of herself so she can unveil it at the party she’s gonna throw at her mansion to celebrate her first half a century of life. They called me, a painter. Now, I’m supposed to “capture her essence”, “show her inner beauty”, and all the other clichés you have heard about portraits. I had no idea I would end up doing a living portrait.
And it all goes exactly like that except for one, big problem: the portrait doesn’t work. No matter what I do, it just doesn’t work. I change the angle, the lightning, the colors; nothing works! The woman looks unhappy, stiff, bored. Not the kind of things people pay you for.
I get desperate. Is my talent weakening? What am I doing wrong? I lose hope. I even think of quitting —something I’ve never done before—. And then, during a restless night, I come up with the idea of the living portrait.
It was not easy to pitch such an idea to a customer who only wanted a painted portrait, but I saw no other option, so I sat down with her and tried to explain my idea as best as I could. She hesitated at first, and I couldn’t blame her. But, eventually, she agreed.
We went to the studio of a friend of mine, who is a rigger, and he told her about each step of the process. She has done some kinky stuff in the twenty-something years she’s been married to her husband, but this is beyond her previous experiences. She almost quits, but, once she becomes familiar with the ropes, she becomes increasingly enthusiastic about the whole project.
The day of the party, I’m in charge of unveiling the portrait. However, what I really show to the guests is a Shibari scene the woman has designed shoulder to shoulder with the rigger. It is beautiful, it captures the essence of a woman who knows her beauty is leaving her and tries this moment of stillness both as a tribute and as a doomed attempt to hold on to her beautiful looks.
Everyone applauds, and I can see some tears. The living portrait is a success.
This is her Shibari story.
