48″x42″, Acrylic on Canvas, February 2008

This turtle comes out of his shell — and much more comes out of his shell as well — as he drowns his pain in an opiate bath. He’s using over-the-counter AC&C pills (aspirin, codeine, and caffeine). Because codeine is quite water soluble, but aspirin is not, he dissolves the pills in water and strains them, thus removing the aspirin and leaving him with a bitter-tasting but euphoria-inducing liquid codeine.

This painting is painted in iridescent and interference paints and changes color in different lighting situations.