Oil on Canvas, 11 × 14 in, © 2025 J.M. Bond.
A cropped female profile inspired by a 20th-century Marlboro advertisement featuring a poised female profile, manicured hand, and the promise that “ivory tips protect the lips.” Where the original sold refinement and gentility, this version removes the copy, the pack, and the pitch. What remains is a narrow theater of light casted upon cheekbone, lips, and fingertips. By isolating the gesture from its advertising context, the image shifts from public persuasion to private tension. The profile suggests elegance; the shadow suggests discretion. Rather than offering a product, the scene offers an ambiguous moment that feels rehearsed and intimate at once.
Oil on Canvas, 11 × 14 in, © 2025 J.M. Bond.
A cropped female profile inspired by a 20th-century Marlboro advertisement featuring a poised female profile, manicured hand, and the promise that “ivory tips protect the lips.” Where the original sold refinement and gentility, this version removes the copy, the pack, and the pitch. What remains is a narrow theater of light casted upon cheekbone, lips, and fingertips. By isolating the gesture from its advertising context, the image shifts from public persuasion to private tension. The profile suggests elegance; the shadow suggests discretion. Rather than offering a product, the scene offers an ambiguous moment that feels rehearsed and intimate at once.
This work was part of an immersive exhibition of new works in October, 2025, titled In the Company of Paintings.
