Faculty of Art

Drawing and Painting

Leah Probst

White Clown Upside Down

This piece was based off of a beautiful moment in the show Corteo when the White Clown creates the illusion as if he is walking across the stage on a blue laser tightwire upside down holding an illuminated candelabra. Out of every act that I could have made a painting out of, I chose this for two particular reasons. One, because of the collaboration of traditional circus act of tightwire mixed with the modern technology of the laser effect. This theme stays consistent in the body of work. The second reason being it reminds me of my boyfriend who was the man behind the illusion, being the one in charge of safely executing the movement of the upside down clown walking across the stage. It was Zach’s responsibility to get him safely across the stage while hung upside down 25 feet above the stage floor. Every time I would watch that act I knew the same person behind the magic of that act was the same person who made this experience possible for me.