Troy Brooks is a contemporary Canadian painter. His eccentric images of elongated female subjects in film noir settings have been globally recognized as signature works in the modern pop surrealist movement. The ‘women of Troy’ play out intimate scenes through a detailed visual language. They are usually caught in moments where something transformative has or is about to happen.
Brooks shares, "My motivation with this series was to convey moments of recognition, where a woman might notice her own likeness in the curve and design of nature. With each painting I realized I was creating a visual space in contrast to the chaotic pace and media pollution of the modern world. This series was intended to evoke calm and serenity, with a sensory response to the qualities of Spring.
I’ve been painting my “Bloom girls” from the very beginning of my career. They started as paintings I worked on between projects, usually as a way to unwind after putting a complicated narrative together. They were a meditation, a pleasant improvisation of bold natural pigments and floral compositions. These women are verdant, ethereal; enveloped by clusters of cyclopean flowers. They hold court in pools of vivid colors and dappled light. Each figure poses in a reaching movement, suggesting a tranquil sequence of garden ballets.
A full series takes me the better part of a year from conception to completion. For any project to hold my interest there must be layers that go deeper than what immediately meets the eye. Working on my Bloom girls in the context of a series gave these radiant characters room to branch out into the other elements, from earth then to wind, fire and water. What began as an ebullient bouquet of color and motion flourished into a study of the eternal feminine energies in nature and the quiet intimacy of a woman in moments of profound stillness and reflection."