Has anyone ever told you that you can’t do something you want to do?
Or that you shouldn’t, or that it’s best not to?

This past week I had an idea to make myself look like I was covered in tree sap while hanging upside down from the most epic tree I’ve ever seen. In order to do that, I had to cover myself in molasses…or, as it ended up turning out, corn syrup.

On a micro level, there were many reasons why this wasn’t a good idea.

The sticky mess that would take hours to clean.
Messing up my camera equipment.
Ruining clothes.

I had a thought while I was planning. “You’re 31 years old now. When will this stop?” That line of questioning no doubt comes from countless sources, from parental figures to television.

The answer came immediately: It will never stop.

If we stop pursuing the little wonders, the absurd, the silly, the messy, the childish…

…We will lose our sense of wonder.

In my life, if I want to do something and it won’t do any harm to anyone else, I do it.

I don’t care if it is uncomfortable or difficult. I don’t care if it is easy or not. I will do it because I must prove to myself that I am all in for this life.

If we don’t pursue those wild things that are uncomfortable or difficult, our childlike desires will start to disappear. Just like a plan that doesn’t get watered, our imagination will die if it isn’t loosed.

I have known so many people who think I’m nuts. People who think I’m too childish. People who cannot fathom doing the things that I do. But at the end of the day, when those people see the process and result of my madness, they don’t think it’s so mad anymore.

We spend so much time making excuses for why we don’t do something. We come up with difficulties in our heads that don’t really exist. We prefer things to be easy and clean and sterile. We want certainty.

I crave those things too. I fall into long, terrible lulls of ease.

But I recognize them and I want more. I want to look back at my 31st year and remember that Friday that I spent covering myself in molasses. I want people to think I’m crazy. I want to stand out from the crowd. I want to make this life worthwhile.

You may not see the connection. How does covering yourself in molasses make your life more worth living?

It’s a fair question. And it has nothing to do with molasses – not really. It’s about doing something that creates a memory, about doing something uncomfortable so that you feel more.

What is one thing you can do this week that is outside of your norm?
Share it so that I can get more ideas of crazy things to do…[insert evil laugh]

From beginning to end, this shoot with molasses was hysterical, fun and unforgettable. There is something very satisfying about pouring sticky syrup all over someone. You feel like a child and you giggle uncontrollably and it isn’t even harmful, so it is fun all around!

This image started when I was trying to think of a new way to portray rebirth. It is a theme I deal with often and that continuously delights me. The idea of someone being reborn, like a phoenix, is motivating and inspiring to me personally. Not to mention the visual of the phoenix bursting into ash is forever etched in my mind as one of the more beautiful sights my imagination has built.

I wanted to create a girl coming out of darkness, yet also being reborn from that darkness. I started thinking about what element I could put in the room with her. One thought was to edit a hole in the floor for her to be coming out of, and I created that image as well, but ended up feeling like Photoshop wasn’t something that should be obviously featured in this particular series. An upcoming picture that you will see was heavily edited, but hopefully not in such an obvious way, hence the distinction.

When I realized the hole in the floor wouldn’t work, I went back to thinking about texture and what textures were missing from the series up to that point. That was when I started thinking about something slick and slippery. At first I wanted to use oil, but with that being an impractical choice, I settled on syrup. Syrup, though, was too thin and light in color to work for what I wanted, so I chose molasses: thicker and darker.

I laid down a cream colored plastic shower curtain on the floor to protect the floor but also create contrast between the dark molasses and the light floor.

The first pose I had chosen for this image turned out to be too sexual in practice. It didn’t have the right feral feeling to it that I had wanted. So, I scrapped that pose and while my model was in the molasses we played a little bit. I instructed her to curl her body up as tight as she could while still sitting up. I wanted a twisted look to her body and told her to play within those confines to twist and contort. It was a challenge as it was slippery down there, but she did an amazing job of giving me several options to play with.

I used a swimmers cap on her head to create the bald effect, which worked great and was thick and tight enough to withstand the slick molasses. In post I edited minimally to enhance the highlights on her body and hands especially.

I hope you enjoy this new series which is on display and represented by the JoAnne Artman Gallery until February 18th. It is showing in New York City (Chelsea).

Very limited editions. Each print is offered at 42×42 inches with an edition of 2, and 8×8 inches with an edition of 3.

You may contact the gallery for purchase requests. Each print has been proofed, signed, and numbered by me, and comes with a certificate of authenticity.

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Photographed with a Sony a7ii and a 25mm Zeiss lens.

Model: Kyna Lian

Assistance: Kelly McGrady