"Giant Slayer" Colleen Stiles

Giant Slayer, 2025

Acrylic on paper

42.5 x 30”

$750.00

My piece, “Giant Slayer,” grapples with the multifaceted concept of Beasts of the Imagination by reimagining the classic David and Goliath narrative through a modern, surreal lens, drawing inspiration from Caravaggio’s dramatic composition and Guillermo Lorca García’s exploration of the grotesque. The shift from David to a young girl as the protagonist fundamentally alters the story. Who, in this context, is the “beast”?

The girl’s detached, almost bored expression as she holds Goliath’s severed head challenges a simple interpretation of victor and vanquished. Is she the slayer of the beast, fulfilling the traditional narrative? Or has the act of slaying transformed her into the beast, embodying the “crude, savage, or horrible” behavior the word suggests? Her disinterest in the gruesome trophy raises questions about the nature of violence and the potential for desensitization. Is this detachment itself a “beastly” trait, a chilling absence of empathy?

The “beast” also exists within the realm of “imagination.” Goliath’s head, no longer a symbol of a defeated giant, becomes a manifestation of the girl’s internal struggles – a manifestation of deep-seated fears and anxieties surrounding power, gender, and the nature of violence itself. Are these her fears, or ours? The hungry, predatory dogs further amplify this tension. They are “beasts” in the traditional sense, driven by instinct, yet their presence also speaks to a primal, consuming hunger for power and dominance that can reside within us all. Ultimately, “Giant Slayer” invites the viewer to question their own perceptions of “beasts,” both internal and external, and to consider the complex interplay between violence, detachment, and the power of the imagination.