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An evangelical Christian upbringing in rural Virginia plays a large part in Tim Wilson's meticulously painted psychodramas that star plastic Fisher Price characters. Although Wilson does not depict specific passages from the Bible, his work is imbued with religious overtones. Like Renaissance paintings that sought to convey the majesty of God, Wilson's works are also painted in rich, luscious color and are bathed in a glowing, otherworldly light. The artist purposely plays with religious ambiguity in his works, hoping to draw the viewer into multiple readings. His use of toys is critical to his cause, for he continually investigates the blurred boundaries between adolescent and adult sensibilities.
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One Life to Live, 2003, oil on canvas, 20x36"
The dichotomous reading between religious purity and the carnal appetite is also touched on in Sheol, in which a group of male figures are gathered together in an intimate scene of bonding. The motley cast of characters--football players, construction workers, wrestlers, and whatever other plastic archetypal men Wilson had in artistic toy box--are in the midst of a religious ritual, the laying of hands on the sick. In the ceremony, which Wilson has observed first-hand as a child, demons are cast out of the sick when church elders anoint them with oil and begin speaking in tongues. The purportedly pious act of healing also carries a slight hint of homosexual innuendo, causing us to rethink the situation at hand. As Wilson recalls, "the ritualistic, testosterone-induced domination over 'evil' would always end with an 'orgasmic' release of the demons. Afterwards, instead of cuddling and spooning, there was what they called 'slain in the spirit,' where the person being prayed for would be laid on the ground, weeping and moaning in ecstasy." By looking back upon this scene as an adult and placing it in the metaphorical setting of Sheol (a Hebrew word for hell or "the grave" which is also sometimes denoted as purgatory), Wilson is able to more concretely grasp what seemed odd and disturbing to him as a child.
--excerpt from the Not So Cute & Cuddly: Dolls & Stuffed Toys in Contemporary Art catalogue by Elizabeth Dundar
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Moments of reverie, tinged with hints of sexuality, are among Wilson's favorite subjects. For example, in Oh I Feel It, Wilson depicts a plastic cowboy floating in a pool of oozing, mysterious fluid. While it is unclear exactly what is taking place, once gets the feeling that the cowboy is being baptized in the reflective substance, and has been caught in a moment of heightened religious fervor. With its intense and dramatic lighting effects, the scene suggests a moment of spiritual redemption. At the same time, however, the scene could be interpreted in a radically different way. The cowboy, an archetype of masculine prowess, could instead be experiencing a moment of sexual fulfillment--the oily fluid a reference to the lotions and ointments used to enhance bodily pleasure.
Oh, I feel it, 2001, oil on canvas, 24x42"
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