I created David/Elvis on the occasion of my brother David's graduation from police training. I wanted to suggest that within the grown man with his new official status lurked the mischievous younger brother of our childhood. And so while a police officer is a man with a gun, that man is -- at least in David's case -- 'Elvis', unmistakably the perennial good guy. After all, no one is ever frightened of Elvis, gun or no gun!

(By the way, there's an 'art joke' in this piece. If you're familiar with Andy Warhol's silkscreened images of Elvis, you'll see an echo of his work in mine. Think of this as the companion 'art joke' to the Michelangelo reference in Elvis/David, my more recent elaboration of the connection between an Elvis and a David.)

My challenge with this piece was largely technical, and had to do with incorporating a number of photographic images into a single canvas (this piece includes over 10 such images). The means I'd discovered to accomplish this required working in the darkroom with a large, loose washed canvas -- in this case a piece of raw cotton about 8 feet by 4. Positioning photographic images within an overall composition is difficult. As it turns out, I was a little off with the placement of the key image of David and me as kids embracing. An image that I'd intended to float over David/Elvis's heart seemed instead to loom from his belly button!

Even so, I decided to develop the piece as planned. It still works. And David/Elvis has become an exceptional teaching tool, too, especially for young artists. After we've talked about other aspects of the image, I tell them that it includes what I consider to be a 'mistake', and ask them to guess what that is. The suggestions are wild -- and seldom include the mis-positioning of the image in question. Finally, I fill the students in. And I ask them whether they think the mistake matters to the overall appeal of David/Elvis. Thankfully, they say no. And so they see that a 'mistake' can in fact be worked around, worked with, worked over -- a valuable lesson for those who are afraid that they aren't 'good enough' artists. Plus, kids are usually thrilled to know that a 'real artist' can make a mistake just like anyone else.

Exhibited at Gallery 76, Toronto, in 1994.

Exhibited at Northrop Frye Hall, Victoria University at the University of Toronto, March 26 - April 13, 2001.

This work is not for sale. However, I'd be very pleased to discuss the possibility of a multi-image portrait commission, if you'd contact me with your ideas.

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