Unmasking Love
Unmasking Love
I find myself on the frontier, sick and angry at the heart and love.
This collection is the hardest one for me. It begins in the raw fear of a father who thought he might not live to see his children grow up. It moves through the tentative, teasing hope of reaching out again, and the terrifying vulnerability of finally dropping every mask I had left. My daughters pushed me to message Kara again, saying they felt I was happy and more myself with her. She teased me at first, then came to visit. In that moment she looked at me and said she would show herself too — if I was brave enough to do the same.
These works trace the painful, beautiful, messy path from guarded survival to the possibility of loving without armor.
The mask of: The man learning — slowly, imperfectly — how to love without hiding.
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Heart Failure ( Isa Aiken ) Carbon pencil and blackening watercolors made from captured industrial carbon, with inks on paper mounted to canvas· 2018 - 2025
This diptych holds the protective love of a father facing his own mortality. On one side, my daughter Isa is wrapped in the shape of my failing heart — still trying to shield her even as the poison from 9/11 continues its slow work. On the other side is the ache of romantic love and its losses. The blackening layers trace years of carrying both kinds of love. Here the mask is one of strength — the father who refused to let his children see he is.
The mask of: The father who loves through fear and fragility.
Soul ( Josie Aiken ) Carbon pencil and blackening watercolors made from captured industrial carbon, with inks on paper mounted to canvas· 2019 -2026
Selfie/ the Tease ( Kara Aiken ) Carbon pencil and blackening watercolors made from captured industrial carbon, with inks on paper mounted to canvas· 2021 -2024
A quiet portrait of my daughter Josie, her face turned slightly inward, soft and unguarded. The blackening layers begin gently at the edges, as if the weight of the world is only starting to reach her. This painting holds the tender hope that my children might carry something good of me forward, even if I cannot. It is love without demand — the wish that my soul might live on through hers.
The mask of: The father hoping to leave light instead of shadow.
The first spark of reconnection. Peitho, goddess of persuasion and seduction, appears here as the playful, teasing energy of early messages with Kara. She does not give easily. The blackening layers swirl around the figure like hesitation and flirtation. This is the moment my daughters encouraged me to reach out — and Kara answered with a lusty tease instead of a door.
The mask of: The man learning to step forward again, afraid and fighting what is offered
Rokeby Carbon pencil and blackening watercolors made from captured industrial carbon, with inks on paper mounted to canvas · 2015 - 2020
The first Venus painting marks the real beginning of hope. After my daughters pushed me to message Kara again and she finally responded with teasing resistance, this work captures the nervous electricity of possibility, during her first visit to Calgary. The blackening layers are present but lighter here — the poison of the past still visible, yet something new, hot, and tender is trying to emerge, unmasked passion.
The mask of: The man daring to hope for love again.
Urbino Carbon pencil and blackening watercolors made from captured industrial carbon, with inks on paper mounted to canvas· 2018 - 2025
Kara came to visit after the first Venus painting and stayed. In this work she is Venus again and doesn’t look directly at the viewer — no longer just an image, but real true beauty and lustful in presence. She forced me to tell her the truth: that I had been hiding myself from her and from everyone. To stop pushing her away. The blackening layers begin to peel away. This is the moment she said she would show herself if I did. The mask of hiding finally starts to fall.
The mask of: The man learning to be seen.
Mother and Child Carbon pencil and blackening watercolors made from captured industrial carbon, with inks on paper mounted to canvas· 2017 - 2024
A reimagined sacred image — not divine, but deeply human. Here the Virgin lifts the child in pride and hope, “Lioness” style. It is love, fatherhood after the unmasking: the wish to protect, to endure, and to pass on something better for all my family. Painted after Kara and my first child, it carries the quiet redemption of being embraced when I finally showed myself, and that my daughters see around my masks, that a wonderful stunning women loves this broken demon painter, as he is, and I her.
Kara brought healing, and happiness.
The mask of: The father and lover who chooses to stay unmasked.
Thank you for experiencing these works.
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Next Collection → Unmasked Wisdom
Studio visits, or related works: blairaiken@raincage.com
Dark yet hopeful.