I Live With Spiderman
In My Own Bat Cave!
I live with Spiderman in my own Bat cave where I can fly like Superman, dream of inventing futuristic, innovative technology like Iron Man, smash through life like Hulk, summon the thunder (within) like Thor, heal in life like Wolverine, all while trying to look as cool as Captain America. Soon I’ll channel my inner Goddess Warrior, like Wonder Woman and thwart global revolutions like Black Panther...until the next superhero steals their imagination!
So who am I? I’m a daughter, a sister, a friend (damn good at being these), an artist, a criminologist, a wife, a mum (damn good at all of those too) and now possibly even a blogger. And it all happened in that order. Of course I’m still all of those things. But it’s art, that I haven’t really had the chance to explore or develop until recently. That’s my one hang up, if I had to have one. I guess when I got into criminology, it captured me fully and my love for painting and drawing had to take a side step until a few years ago.
And how did it happen? How did I go from criminologist, to artist? Well, picture this: new home, little boy who loves all things superhero related (no influencing here as my husband likes to suggest, the boy is just a big fan like his mother) and BANG, I get the best idea ever. Like EVER, EVER! A homage to all my son's favourite Marvel and DC superheroes painted straight on the playroom wall in a climatic scene in THE BEST ever superhero collaboration film of all time.
Super fans, please don’t hate! I get the whole ‘DC Comics’ vs ‘Marvel’ thing but he was four years old. Why would I tell him they can’t exist in the same superhero world? How could I watch the tears stream from behind his tiny little specs, down his cute little cheeks, onto the playroom floor? I couldn’t! We don’t discriminate between tights, capes, Kryptonians and humans! One universe, one superhero world, one love, one little boys dream and one mothers passion to fulfil it! Enter creative director…moi and directors little helper (my friend) Chhaya who helped me project my ideas onto the playroom wall with a few ‘borrowed from work’ old school gadgets.
It was my space, my own massive canvas in my own house and no one to say I couldn’t do it. It would be something that would stay on the wall for generations to come like Michelangelo’s painting of the Sistine Chapel…Okay I’m getting a little ahead of myself, but something that would most certainly be staying as long as I wanted it to stay (note to self - insert ‘playroom wall’ Clause in Last Will & Testament).
I could do whatever the hell I wanted with it. Paint it, repaint it, add to it, take away from it, and I felt free. Not sure how else I could describe it. I was in my own zone, my own space where I could finally get the chance to explore my artistic side, and boy did I love it!
I drew two versions each of my son’s favourite superheros poised in action and asked him to choose which ones he liked. Sixteen drawings later, he picked out his eight. I had the characters, now all I needed was to bring them together so it all made sense, but how? So I thought about all the superhero movies I’ve ever seen and the one common element in all, was ACTION! I created a blasting explosion of fire…on paper, then I cut out each hero and poised them in varying places across the bright yellow-orange inferno until it looked perfect.
I worked on Project Playroom whenever I could find the time, often after putting my son to bed at night. Drawing and painting until one o'clock in the morning some nights, the time just slipping away as I lost myself in this new but familiar world.
“It’s bloody awesome!” my son claimed, beaming with delight when he finally saw it...Okay so he was four at the time and didn’t actually say, ‘bloody’ but if he knew the adverbial effect it would’ve had to the statement, he might’ve just slipped that in!
“Mummy, I have the coolest room in the universe!” And in that moment, as I watched him exploring the wall with wonder and delight, I knew I had done something very special. I had made my little boys’ dream come true. He now had his very own, unique superhero world where Superman flew alongside the web-slinger and Batman raced with Captain America. The DC and Marvel world had come together as one, and what a sight!
Fast forward eight years, and my seven year old daughter has her own favourite superheros. “Wakanda Forever!” She screams, as she flies through the living room in her Wonder Woman costume. I guess the Black Panther will be taking up residence on the playroom wall with that Wonderful Woman…if I ever get the time! When will it happen? I have no idea! But I hope it will, so I can see the same delight in my daughters’ eyes that I witnessed with my son.
And it’s this delight that I feel when I paint, this delight I feel when I want to try something new on my canvas and watch it unfold like an untold story. This delight, that pushed me to begin a new journey.
And that my friends, is how I live with Spiderman in my own Bat cave where I can fly like Superman, dream of inventing futuristic, innovative technology like Iron Man, smash through life like Hulk, summon the thunder (within) like Thor, heal in life like Wolverine, all while trying to look as cool as Captain America...until next time, I’m Dexa Kanbi and I am the Artistic Criminologist.
