Have
you ever dated an artist? However close and loving your relationship might be,
it’s always startling to see yourself reflected in their work. Ryan
Britt discovered this when he became his girlfriend’s
muse:
He's really thin. He's naked. He's two-dimensional.
If it weren't for the fact that he's lacking a head, he would be six-foot-one.
My height. He looks just like me.
My girlfriend, Gabriela, takes a drag of her cigarette,
blows the smoke across her Greenpoint studio, turns to look at the real Ryan
and asks,
"Do you like it?"
"It looks like me," I say. But I'm lying just
a little bit, because while this painting — entitled "White Bread" —
has my chest, arms, legs and neck, his penis is bigger than mine.
The
joy, the pain, the sex, the Star Trek: read
the entire essay, here.
