A while back I was approached by the pianist Corey Hamm, who had asked me to provide the artwork for his forthcoming album, Corybantic. What is “corybantic”? Well…
cor·y·ban·tic
ˌkôrəˈbantik/
adjective 1. wild; frenzied
Corybantic is also the name of composer Jocelyn Morlock‘s solo piano piece for Corey Hamm, which will be one of the pieces featured on the album, along with works by Dorothy Chang, Scott Godin, Keith Hamel, and Jordan Nobles. Finally, one would be remiss to not point out that “Corybantic” sounds an awful lot like “Corey”. Corey… Corybantic. Corey… Corybantic.
Corey had asked me for a painting that would reflect the wild, frenzied nature of the new album. “Wild and frenzied” aren’t exactly things that come easily when I paint (I whined about this in an earlier post) and this piece underwent many versions and transformations as a result. But I’m satisfied with the final product: bold colours, lots of activity, with nods to Norval Morrisseau, Takashi Murakami, Frederick the Great, and maybe even a dash of Sasha Velour.
Mark Takeshi McGregor 