Acrylic and Spray Paint on Canvas
60 × 60 cm — Summer 2025, Galway, Ireland
By Patrick Loewen
You Are Really Pretty (They Just Lied to You) explores the manufactured insecurities imposed on women by modern culture — a world that profits from convincing them they’re not enough. The piece shows a young boy spray-painting the words “You are really pretty, they just lied to you” across a wall, facing a little girl who stands in quiet contemplation. Around them, chaotic colors, slogans, and fragmented words echo the noise of societal manipulation — the endless barrage of comparison and unattainable standards.
This work serves as both confession and confrontation — an expression of love and outrage. Loewen frames the message as something every man instinctively wants to tell the women in his life: that they are beautiful, powerful, and whole just as they are. Beneath the paint lies a universal plea — a reminder that when women are disconnected from their self-worth, the world loses its emotional compass.
Painted in Galway in the summer of 2025, this piece is a sister painting to It’s Brave to Feel, reflecting the mirrored struggles between genders. While women are often made to feel broken on the outside, men are taught to hide the pain within. Together, these works speak to the shared human need for honesty, empathy, and healing — a love letter to balance and emotional truth.
Acrylic and Spray Paint on Canvas
60 × 60 cm — Summer 2025, Galway, Ireland
By Patrick Loewen
You Are Really Pretty (They Just Lied to You) explores the manufactured insecurities imposed on women by modern culture — a world that profits from convincing them they’re not enough. The piece shows a young boy spray-painting the words “You are really pretty, they just lied to you” across a wall, facing a little girl who stands in quiet contemplation. Around them, chaotic colors, slogans, and fragmented words echo the noise of societal manipulation — the endless barrage of comparison and unattainable standards.
This work serves as both confession and confrontation — an expression of love and outrage. Loewen frames the message as something every man instinctively wants to tell the women in his life: that they are beautiful, powerful, and whole just as they are. Beneath the paint lies a universal plea — a reminder that when women are disconnected from their self-worth, the world loses its emotional compass.
Painted in Galway in the summer of 2025, this piece is a sister painting to It’s Brave to Feel, reflecting the mirrored struggles between genders. While women are often made to feel broken on the outside, men are taught to hide the pain within. Together, these works speak to the shared human need for honesty, empathy, and healing — a love letter to balance and emotional truth.
