Lately I’m making some watercolor + color pencil drawings based on press photographs of some of my favorite fights:

Mixed martial artists distill primal survival skills into a poetry of violence. Like a bdsm scene, the fight has a protective structure, boundaries, and mutual consent. They sculpt with fists, knees, and elbows, improvising a narrative, painting with blood. I love the moment when the fight ends and the two people who have been locked in the most brutal exchange immediately embrace in a flood of respect and admiration. The aftercare, if you're into that. Gently touching the other's battered face.