“I want to be vulnerable with you.” — Prismacolor & Acrylic

This small, electrifying portrait by Edward Cushenberry captures the exact moment where tenderness and exposure collide. A figure lies back, eyes shut, teeth clenched in an expression that could be pleasure, pain, or memory. Their skin, rendered in rich, earthy tones, carries a handwritten tattoo across the chest — beauté ténébreux — dark beauty. It’s both a declaration and a mark, anchoring the drawing in that space where desire, identity and vulnerability intertwine.

The handwritten caption, “I want to be vulnerable with you,” is more than a phrase — it’s a frame for the entire image. Positioned beneath the figure like a Polaroid inscription, it infuses the work with confessional gravity, echoing zine aesthetics, personal journals, and the raw language of intimacy. Cushenberry, a photographer by training and skater by instinct, has a sharp eye for emotional texture. Here, he combines that instinct with comic-like flatness and deliberate color blocks — mint green sheets, lavender ovals, mustard florals — creating a cinematic atmosphere that recalls early David Wojnarowicz or even Jean-Michel Basquiat’s quieter works.

The use of Prismacolor and graphite on Bristol gives the piece a layered, tactile quality. The white acrylic frame, with its smudges and ridges, refuses perfection — it insists on being touched, held, believed. Signed on the back, the work stands as a visual whisper: intimate, political, deeply human.

Object: Original drawing on Bristol paper

Title: “I want to be vulnerable with you.”

Artist / Author: Edward Cushenberry

Date: 2024

Technique / Method: Prismacolor pencil, graphite, ink, and acrylic paint

Medium / Materials: Bristol paper

Edition: Unique

Signed: Yes, on reverse

Dimensions: 10.8 × 8.9 cm (4.25 × 3.50 in)

Condition: Excellent, with minor surface marks and expressive materiality

Provenance: Darwin Collection