Elegance and power - "You're left, my right"

One of the most popular paintings from the series but mysteriously not sold. It's different from the rest in that an object - the steering wheel, or the car - is almost the main character.


My version of the story behind the painting
Like I've said before, if you'd like to have your own story behind this painting, and don't want to be influenced by anyone else's version, don't read the next paragraph!
The germ for the idea for this painting came from me just generally day dreaming about power and the different situations in which it appears. One which spontaneously came to mind was driving - the person behind the wheel is who decides. Not just where to go, but ultimately the destiny of those sitting in the car rests with the driver, who could drive to somewhere very dangerous, somewhere unknown or even into a brick wall. I had a story in my head while painting but couldn't create a connection between the situation in my head and the painting. Or at least, any connection which could be seen by someone else. My story is of a bank robbery, which was an 'inside job'. The driver of the car had a relation with someone who worked in the bank, and arranged a robbery with the partner playing the part of an innocent employee, whist granting access to the money. However, in the getaway car, the partner realises they have been tricked as they discover they are trapped in the back and have no say over where they are driving. Hence the title 'You're left' which I interpret as 'You are abandoned', and 'my right' which I take as 'my justice', which is a revenge for some episode which happened earlier in their relationship where the driver was tricked out of something valuable by the other person. If I was in the back of the car I'd be very worried.

Detail from "You're left, my right"

The making of "You're left, my right"

We'd had guests and the night finished quite late when my wife reminded me that I had nothing to paint the next day. I told her that I needed to take the reference photos at night which meant a 24 hour delay if we weren't to take the photos that night. So we decided despite being very tired to find our last kilojoules of energy and take the photos. Our neighbours must have wondered what we were up to with lights and tripods on our driveway at 1 o'clock in the morning. My wife almost fell asleep as I gently asked her to change the position of her hands too many times. The gloves are my wife's favourites and she was really pleased that they would be used in a painting. I sketched ideas using our car's original steering wheel but the square volvo-ness of it wasn't particularly elegant. So I found a lovely 50's style wheel which changed the mood completely. I really like the way I painted the leather on the gloves and managed to get the knuckles underneath to 'shine through', and I like the composition and 'power' in the painting.

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Detail from "You're left, my right"

This painting is for sale. 7000 swedish kronor.
A limited edition of canvas prints of this painting are also available. An edition of ten at the same size as the originals (100 x 100 centimeters) for 2700 kronor each and an edition of twenty at 60 x 60 centimeters for 1400 kronor each. All signed and numbered by me. Please get in touch by mail gary.rychter@gmail.com or telephone 0046 (0)706 391848 if you are interested in buying.