Feminine Millennial Identity: Lala and Britney

Shaved, 2021, Acrylic on Canvas, 50cm x 61cm

Lala Drona taps into the feminine millennial psyche with your newest painting “Shave.”  (displayed above) 

“Encounter” void painting by Lala Drona

Following her previous series where she depicted the journey into “the void” she begins to discover the influences that have played a part in the construction of feminine millennial identity.  With its black background, one could presume that we have crossed over, and entered the void referenced in the former series.  From inside the void, the first image that emerges is one of a face split in half:  One side is Lala Drona, sporting her iconic sunglasses, and the other side is that of Britney Spears.  The image of Lala was taken from her short video “Jailbird for muse abuse,” where the artist’s head is shaved before she enters Paris Art Prison after being convicted of Muse Abuse.  Juxtaposed is the infamous image of Britney Spears’s, taken by the paparazzi when she escaped from her Pop princess keepers, and shaved her own head in 2007.

In an interview with Jay Lewis in Artleads Magazine, Lala Drona explains that she chose to paint a half-Lala, half-Britney painting in so that the images could be revealed with her “Every Woman” mirror box contraption.  Once the painting is put on the mirror box, you can see each side of the face reflected, which creates the illusion of complete and separate people (complete Britney, complete Lala). “I chose Britney for this piece after considering the references I had of women shaving their head before I had shaved my head for the first time.  I was surprised that although the media presented Britney as hysterical, I remembered this moment as her expressing agency over her own body.  I saw strength in the wild look in her eyes.  I wanted to be beautiful, strong, free, and wild like that too.  Britney inadvertently gave many millennial girls a reference for releasing the wild woman within.”

Reference for painting “Shaved”

Internet forums have been buzzing about a leaked handwritten statement by Lala Drona recounting the inspiration behind the piece.  The text, thought to be a draft of the art statement that accompanies the piece, says that this painting was an introspective look at sensationalized images of women during her formative years:

“In the late 90’s and 2000’s, the media presented women as objects to be consumed by the male gaze.  We learned that acting unintelligent was attractive, like Paris Hilton in The Simple Life.  We were bombarded with images from “Girls Gone Wild” and “Mardi Gras,” and it was custom for neighbourhood boys and male classmates to ask us to flash them as if we were the subjects in these programs.  Mtv’s Spring Break, and music videos showed us how we should act if we wanted to be seen and validated by mainstream culture.  The paparazzi preyed on young celebrity girls exiting their cars, in order to snap an upskirt photo and plaster images of their vaginas in gossip magazines.  This is what I saw on a daily basis while waiting in line at the grocery store.  Women were meant to freely offer their body to any man that wanted it, and men were meant to coerce women into giving their bodies by any means… 

(continued…)Of course, this misogynist media circus was a natural evolution from mainstream media of the late 80’s and early 90’s, but things have become even worse today for young women and girls with social media pressures and mobile photo editing apps.  Women should feel free to express their sexual power, but not feel as if it is the only power they have at their disposal.  Women are made to feel that their work is never enough, that the work does not stand without an attractive and unthreatening face/body to transport it.  Anyone who lives at the mercy of the male gaze is made to feel as if they should hide their image if it is not perfect by societal standards of beauty.  This pressure to either “exploit yourself or hide yourself” traps us within the body, with no chance to transcend it, meaning no chance for growth or evolution.  My intuition tells me that feminine power lies somewhere outside of our bodies, but it is with our bodies that we can connect to it.  It’s like another channel we can all tune in to.  If we are always made to feel that we are nothing more than our bodies, then we will never transcend those bodies and never tap into that feminine power.  We will remain docile, and easily managed.  We must find the way to break away from the body as prison; we must stop defining ourselves by the body. We must view it as a tool/vessel that enables us to connect and ascend to our most powerful selves.”

Some critics are saying the Lala Drona’s piece is a cheap attempt to jump onto the #freebritney trends regarding Britney Spear’s recent conservatorship battle.  Others remain satisfied with the project, and find its feminine millennial identity angle refreshing.  Will Lala Drona continue to explore millennial identity through painting, or will her journey into the void uncover something else?  We’ll keep you updated with Lala Drona’s top stories here on Based on a Fact.

Written by Warren Deniels, Independent Journalist  

Halloween Special: Lala’s Breast Implant Haunted. Needs Removal.

Hauntings take place in houses…Sometimes objects can even house dark spirits or entities.  On Friday the 23rd of October, Lala Drona announced that she would be having surgery to remove her left breast implant and undergo a mastectomy.  To the press, Lala Drona released a statement saying:

“It has been 16 years since my operation to correct my left-breast agenesis.  When I was 15 years old, the doctors thought it was best to augment the left breast in order to match the right breast which developed.  I have no regrets.  However, the breast implant is too old, and I am left with a choice:  to undergo the same operation…or to remove the breast implant and reduce the right breast to match it.  I choose the ladder.”

Lala Drona continued on to explain why.  She talked about her research into the health effects of silicone in the body, and the inevitability to be forced to have another surgery in order to replace the implants once again.  She mentioned the maintenance of having to see doctors every year to survey the implants in case of a rupture.

“I don’t want a life framed by my breasts.  I want to be free, and I’m willing to give up the right one if it means I can move on, and live a healthier life.”

Although the speech was moving, journalists of the L.D. Times decided to dig further.  They found that Lala Drona was using this story to cover up something much more sinister.

Strange and violent events began to take place around Paris.  A woman on a subway train, stopped at station Pont Marie, scratched her face until the bone was exposed.  She kept saying, “I don’t want to be pretty anymore.”  

Then, near the Cite des Arts, where Lala Drona had her last exhibition, a man was found smashing the bottom part of his legs with a large rock of concrete.  His legs were already quite thin, so it didn’t take much to remove all the flesh.  Rumors said that he kept repeating: “I can’t get my calf muscles to grow.”

The final event had taken place in a bus.  A woman broke a window abruptly, and used a glass shard to cut the fat off of her stomach, repeating: “They say, take it off!”  She was wrestled to the ground, and luckily, she survived.

Investigative journalists found that all of these events had one thing in common.  Lala was there.  She had been walking near the Cite des Arts, when the man began smashing his legs with a rock of concrete.  Below Lala walking on the street, the subway train containing the woman who scratched her face to the bone had stopped at station Pont Marie.  The bus with the woman who tried to cut off the fat from her belly had also stopped nearby.  

Lala Drona

When confronted by journalists regarding the bizarre coincidences, she allowed her partner Drone No.1 to come clean for her.  He told the crowd that recently they had found that Lala Drona’s breast implant was haunted, and that although they would not be able to disclose the means in which they would have to neutralize the  threat, they would be taking care of it, and that everything would be handled by November 1st.

The process or procedure the Drones and Lala would take to relieve her body of the haunting… that, we do not know.  However, we do know that her medical operation is not scheduled until February 2021.  This means that the Lala will have to find a way to either live with the dangerous spirits inside the implant, or find a way to calm them.  One way or another, she will have to house them, in her chest, through the winter.

To see more about Lala Drona’s breast experience and art, watch the video below, or check out her website http://www.laladrona.com

Second Painting in Triptych Released

Lala Drona continues her project on “The Female Frame” finishing the second painting in the triptych.

The project “Female Frame” is a response to the question “What would the world look like through female eyes?” She states: “While growing up, a lot of emphasis is placed on how girls look and present themselves to the world. Images of “the trophy wife,” an object used only to increase the status of the man next to her. The “instagram look,” where women are augmenting their bodies, both surgically and digitally, in exchange for audience approval in the form of likes and comments…”

Female Frame: The Stage, 2019, Acrylic on Canvas, 20cm x 20cm

“…When it comes to scrutiny, women’s bodies have always been open game. Open game to be commented on by passerbys on the street, to be ridiculed for how they dress or present themselves. This is why the stage is an appropriate setting for the next room represented in this project. Women are born into the role of entertainer to the masses; when they leave the home (private space) and go into public spaces, they are put on stage. And it’s once the entertainer is on stage that the public feels that they are permitted to comment on her, right? Because, after all, they wouldn’t go up there, on stage (into the public world) in front of everyone, if they didn’t want the attention, right?” This piece examines the societal role of “visual entertainment” placed on women when they occupy public spaces.

If you’d like to see more about the project “Female Frame” click here.

Questioning Our Images: The Female Frame

Examination of the image becomes vital in a period of history marked by the smartphone and its accessibility to image and video creation.  Lala Drona inspires others to question the origins of our daily images through her research into topics concerning le regard (the gaze).

Female Frame, 2019, Acrylic on Canvas, 20cm x 20cm

During her appearance at the Bienvenu Art Fair at the Cité des Arts in Paris, journalist and video editor Mathieu Mieleszko followed Lala Drona to document the release of her painting “Female Frame.”  In this video, Mieleszko delves into the artist’s intention behind the painting, and provides a link between her artistic universe and its real-world applications.  His cinematographic style in this video is influenced by concepts behind the piece, mimicking le regard which follows behind the artist during the exhibition.  The style critiques the traditional objectification of women depicted through the male gaze, as women in the video are not simply objects to be seen, but instead look back (appearances by: video artist Jamika Ajalon, and stained glass artist Alison Koehler).   

Lala states that her present work on the female gaze examines “issues in the lack of diversity in the transmission of images and stories throughout history.  Our images predominantly come from creators of the same profile (male, white, heterosexual).  It’s not to say that these stories are not important, it’s to say that it’s time to share the stage.  We want different stories, a broader understanding of the diverse human condition.  And it’s time to bring commonly silenced voices to the forefront.”

Video still from Mieleszko’s film

 Her painting “Female Frame” not only inspires others to question the profile of the person behind our images, but also the corporate and political entities.  “We are bombarded with too many images today, in the form of Instagram, and other social networks.  Advertisers and political campaigns are able to post images at the same level of importance as the images from our friends and community.  The infinite scroll feature facilitates the mindless consumption of these images, and we are only beginning to see the negative effects of this.” 

            Lala Drona intends to create three paintings under the concept of “the female frame.” 

Video editing by Mathieu Mieleszko:
https://vimeo.com/user20455396
Music in video by Sim Hutchins:
https://soundcloud.com/simhutchins
https://simhutchins.bandcamp.com/

Artist Family Values: Lala begins research

Lala Drona spotted at exhibition

In an interview with Art & Stylin’ Magazine, Lala Drona said that she has been “taking a break from output to reassess.”  The artist stated that she continues to work on creative projects, but in order to dive deeper into other projects, social media and blog posts had to be put on the back-burner:

“I’ve reduced my output online because of my commitment to essential projects offline. I came to the realization that in my journey as an artist, my values seem to be holding me back, creatively and otherwise. The troubling thing is, these values I speak of, arise, and stop me from moving forward; they are walls that do not explain themselves. I’ve realized that for better or worse, these values have been transmitted to me, through exterior sources. I’ve never taken a moment to work through the voices policing me to be a “good” person, or “good” artist. Because I like the person I have become, and I like the life I lead today, I have never thoroughly investigated the origins of these “values.” Now that I am an adult, and no longer a young person clutching on to stable things in an unstable reality, it’s time to unpack them. I’ve decided to begin writing about my values as an artist, to find out what it means to be an artist today in this new world.”

Thibaut Narme, Economics Lecturer and friend of Lala Drona

Lala Drona was spotted at Au Chat Noir interviewing Thibaut Narme, a lecturer at a business school in Paris.  Sources say that Lala Drona was researching for a section of the essay that examines free market capitalism and the role of the artist within it.  She mentioned other topics in the essay would include Death to the bohemian artist and The young and the mature artist.

“My European Art Tour was enlightening.  I feel like I’m finally seeing everything from outside myself—starting to see the strings of how everything works—I’ve been seemingly invited to the game my whole life, but it’s only now that I finally understand the rules. I’ve definitely had to take an unconventional path to get them.  Now, I’m finally getting ready to play.”

For some experts, these statements raise red flags.  As Lala Drona has not yet left the doghouse regarding her reputation involving allegations of muse abuse.  However, after her stint in Paris Art Prison, she seems to have turned over a new leaf, committing herself to use everything she’s learned through her experiences (and muse experiments!) to help her fellow artists.

Lala Drona is also preparing for participation in the group exhibition “Turtle Bienvenu” at the Cité des Arts in Paris—the opening on October 12^th from 6pm-11pm.  Lala Drona plans to continue her exploration of the female gaze, in the form of painting on canvas and in a video performance.  Don’t miss her first show since returning to Paris.

Newest video, desire or self-destruction?

Lala Drona’s latest performance video titled “Willing” has just been released.  The performance examines desire, choice, and notions of consent.  Critic Leanne Richmond stirred up media response with her recent reading of Lala Drona’s video, stating that, for her, the video is about “the inability to resist self-destructive behaviour.”  Based on a Fact caught up with Lala to learn more about the inspiration behind the video performance:

Lala Drona was inspired by ideas surrounding consent.  “I was thinking about the complexities of sexuality and society, and how in order to receive consent, we must in some way, already trespass.  In my video, this is demonstrated by how you cannot see the answer (yes or no) until the irreversible move is made by shaving.  Unwanted advances, verbal and physical, are seen as harassment (regardless of gender).  However, without them, we do not know how to begin advances towards what we want.  In a similar vein, this notion of obtaining consent is not at all new to women.  We have been systematically programmed to ask for consent to speak, consent to be part of to the team, consent to just be in the room.  Women asking men to start including it in their sexual practices is really nothing in comparison.”

Lala Drona mentions that the title “Willing” is not meant to be understood at face value, and is meant to be taken as humour au second degré.

Nonetheless, art critic Leanne Richmond theorised that “since Lala Drona is the only individual in the piece, this is really a piece about identity and the psyche.  The performer is asking and receiving consent from herself.  This demonstrates the loving and destructive acts we commit on ourselves.  In the video, although the performer’s psyche is saying “stop” (on the skin of her head), she is unable to resist the temptation to self-destructive behaviour, shown by the shaving of the rest of her hair.”

What do you think about Lala Drona’s newest art performance video? 

Performance at Le Castel to promote NEW Laboratory

Title: Speak or Listen, Acrylic on canvas 50cm x 60cm

Last week, Lala Drona brought down the house with her debut performance in French at Le Castel, a private club  located in the 6^th arrondissement of Paris. 

Le Castel was founded by the French event coordinator, Jean Castel in 1962.  Many knew Jean Castel as “le roi des nuits parisiennes” (the king of Parisian nights), Private performances, artist-types and parties continue to roll through this institution today.   In the basement of the building, there are sofas and chairs surrounding a stage. On the stage last week, the painting titled “Speak of Listen” by Lala Drona was displayed.  Performance artist Wenjue Zhang, placed black boxes containing peep-holes around the room.  Inside said boxes, lied an image, erotic and explicit…saturated in colour.  Hypnotic music began to play in the background, and Lala Drona stepped onto the stage… (video below).

Lala Drona’s performance titled “Experiment 88: Speak or Listen” recounts an artist’s (Jade Edwards’) experience in Lala Laboratories.  The artist is the subject in an experiment that will result in artistic revelation (article continues below):

still from performance at Le Castel

Sources say that this performance serves as an advertisement for the new Lala Laboratory.  Since 2014, Lala has had quite a bit of trouble due to her unconventional inspiration extraction methods from muses.  She has gone to Art Prison, inspired muse protests and strikes, and inadvertently caused changes in muse rights legislature. After the Lala Laboratory explosion in 2016, Lala Drona has simultaneously been looking for a place to put down roots, whilst also dodging investigations into inhumane Lala Laboratory experiments.

still from performance at Le Castel

Since 2017, Lala Drona has been traveling the world in the form of an exhibition tour.  She stated last week, “I’ve been traveling in order to look for a new place for Lala Laboratories. And finally, I’ve found it.”  Lala Laboratories, formerly “The Lala Laboratory” had to change its name due to copyright issues, but according to Lala, that wasn’t the only change that took place. “Lala Laboratories no longer includes muses in their research and experiments.  After the protests, the project got a bad rap.  It was almost impossible to get anything done due to new bureaucracy and protections.  Now, thanks to the former muse experiments, we’ve collected all the data that we need, and it’s time to open our experiments to their proper demographic.  Now, Lala Laboratories serves to enhance artist inspiration and methods, through experiences catered to each individual artist.  The performance at Le Castel was a simulation of that…sort of an advertisement for the new laboratory, if you will.”

When questioned about the location of Lala Laboratories, Lala explained: “It took going all over the world, and encountering every problem imaginable to get to the solution.  Lala Laboratories has installed itself in the intangible: in the virtual spaces online, in every conversation, and in every collaboration and project connecting to us.  If you have interacted with myself, my Drones, muses, and my community in any way, you ARE part of Lala Laboratories.”

The Beard: Lala’s newest video gets hairy

Just released, Lala Drona’s newest art video “The Beard,” makes waves amongst the digital masses (video below). The newest instalment in her video series La Minute Ladrona (the stolen minute) has fans deliberating the true meaning behind the video.

Lala Drona with Jamika Ajalon

The artist covers topics in beard history, possibly linking beard trends to the different waves of women’s liberation. She unpacks the contemporary and metaphorical beard in a playful and enigmatic way.

The video stays true to Lala Drona’s iconic style. Moving video interacts with static digital image, while she whispers poetry over a black backdrop. However, this piece takes a documentary-style spin, diving into the beard as historical artefact, and looking into its influence on society as a whole. For the first time in the video series, Lala Drona incorporates audio from other authors/vocalists: one cameo by performance artist Jamika Ajalon, recorded specifically for this project.

Video still from “The Beard”

A series first, Lala Drona also collaborated with someone else during the performance part of the video project. “What makes this video groundbreaking [within the series] is that Lala Drona shares the screen with someone else! Drone No.1 from the Lala’s created universe has crossed over into the La Minute Ladrona Series! Long live Drone No. 1!!!!” (digitalfire58, Dronauniverse Forum).

Drone No.1, a favourite in the Lala Drona Universe, has caused fans to come out of the woodwork, reminiscing on the Drone No.1 saga, and praising his return in the form of internet memes.

Not surprisingly, the appearance of Drone No.1 has inspired conspiracy theories that Lala Drona will soon return to her work on the Lala Laboratory, after a long pause due to her European Art Tour. Others speculate on how this video came about, pointing to the easter eggs left in social media posts from Lala Drona’s European travels.

Either way, we are impressed with the trailblazing evolution of her work. This video marks a stylistic shift. “The Beard” art video is a must-see. Below, a link to the video. We also suggest seeing all of the “La Minute Ladrona” video series found here.

Lala Drona Retrospective at MOMA?

Lala Drona’s European art tour has gone intercontinental.  Following her art residency in Gothenburg, Sweden, the artist was spotted in New York visiting galleries and museums, along with rubbing elbows with members of the art world in cafés and bars.  From the Guggenheim to the Whitney, and finally the MOMA, Lala Drona was spotted taking notes and photos of the spaces, supposedly planning her future retrospective exhibition in these institutions.

            One of our reporters caught up with the artist at the MOMA:

J: Why have you chosen to research the MOMA as a possible host for your future retrospective?

L.D.:  Before arriving to NYC, my heart was set on the MOMA.  However, I admire the risks that the Guggenheim takes, and would love for the retrospective to be shown there first.  After this, it will travel around the world. The first stop will be in France, at Palais de Tokyo.  Since my work includes photo collage, video and paintings, I think the spaces that Palais de Tokyo provides would be an ideal fit.  However, eventually one day, I would like my retrospective to make its way back to NYC and appear in the MOMA.

J: Have you seen any pieces in the MOMA which have impacted you during this visit?

from series “Baader–Meinhof” by Gerhard Richter

L.D. I’ve finally seen Gerhard Richter’s paintings in real life.  His series  “Baader–Meinhof” has reinforced my faith in painting on canvas as a visual medium.  His innovative techniques are proof that there is still so much to explore and discover in the genre of painting.  When you stand in front of the paintings in real life, they move, they breathe.  It’s breathtaking.

J: What will you do with the rest of your time in NYC?

L.D.: I’ve got a full schedule.  I’m meeting with other artists and plotting for big things in the near future.

from film “The Special People” by Erica Schreiner

Erica Schreiner and Lala Drona

From emerging to established artists, Lala Drona trekked the city perpetually accompanied.  She was spotted visiting Chelsea galleries with Ezra Enzo, an abstract painter, soon to be fresh-out-of-art-school.  Around Brooklyn, she was reported to be deep in conversation with prominent video artist Erica Schreiner, and according to our sources, Lala Drona is scheduled to appear in Schreiner’s next feature length art film “The Special People.”  In addition to this, she will appear as one of the featured artists in an interview in Marietta Magazine, a Brooklyn based magazine which includes interviews with artists and performers from NYC to Paris.

Lala Drona to be interviewed in Marietta Magazine’s next issue.

Since leaving New York, Lala Drona has travelled to an undisclosed location for rest and relaxation.  However, if history informs us of anything, it’s that this artist is not one to rest.  We speculate that she is in hiding so that she can plot her next voyage and project. We wait impatiently to find out in which new corner of the world Lala Drona will decide to plant her art-seed.

The Colonel and the Muse Part II

It had been 3 days now since things had gone south with Muse Leira—she wanted Lala Drona out, out of that room as soon as possible.  Never had she ever met an artist so enveloped by her own work, so committed to her own style and message, an artist with vision alright…with tunnel vision. 

Muse Leira tried, time and time again, to inspire Lala Drona to continue her and Colonel Morgado’s work with battle strategies. She tried to influence Lala to wage art war on the Art Guild: the legislation which passed all art-related laws.   When that didn’t work, She tried to influence the artist to strategise against those who did not believe in art.  She tried to convince Lala of the destructive force that she possessed when she put paintbrush to canvas.  Muse Leira’s work with Colonel Morgado had been left unfinished, and she wanted Lala, more than any other artist to have entered that room before, to implement the battle strategies that Leira and the Colonel had started, into her paintings.

Lala Drona refused to accept the muse’s battle inspiration, and arrogantly explained to Muse Leira how this creative collaboration would unfold.  Lala had already decided on a concept, and merely needed the muse to help her develop the images for it.   The concept for the triptych of paintings would examine the development of online relationships/friendships, from the digital to the real.   It would unfold over three parts on three canvases:

Canvas 1:  “We Find Our Match in the Digital Masses”

Canvas 2: “We Give Each Other Space to Grow”

Canvas 3: “Together, We Make Each Other Human”

“Together we make each other human?  What’s so great about being human anyway?” Leira said.

Lala explained. “I meant for “human” to be taken metaphorically…like coming together in real life is what helps us maintain our humanity— or our compassion—empathy…”

“You are insinuating that “humanity” only expresses a compassionate side—while today more than ever we are witnessing humanity’s “inhumanity”. Not to mention, that idea is corny.  It would be a disservice to the entire triptych.  I’ll sign off on the first two ideas, but the third has got to go.”

Lala laughed, “I don’t think you really understand your role here.”

“Role?  You will suffer if you chose to stay in this room and not implement my inspiration.”

Lala scoffed and ignored the muse.  She threw herself into the work, but her ideas did not flow; she felt creatively blocked.  Sketching the third idea was like trying to manoeuvre a paintbrush with her toes.  The images would not translate onto paper.  But Lala kept drawing, too committed to her method.

Through the night, Lala persisted with her work but not without rebellion from Muse Leira.  Over the next few nights, Leira appeared to the dog outside Lala’s room.  At first, the barking only distracted Lala slightly, as she told herself that she would get used to it, just as she got used to the other sounds of the town.

Hours upon hours, the dog barked outside of her window, a rhythmic barking that ricocheted off the walls of the colonel’s room—every burst of canine scream was a wack over Lala’s ears. Muse Leira appeared over Lala as she drew, willing her own inspiration into the artist’s mind.  The more Lala resisted, the more Leira’s inspiration would change shape and become stronger.  With every wave of inspiration, Lala’s drawing began to warp and transform as well, into circles and lines, a battle strategy that she could not decipher.

The church bells clanged, the roosters cooed and every dog in that town barked simultaneously in the same rhythmic pattern. Lala covered her ears and screamed as an image of Muse Leira and Colonel Morgado emerged from a white fog with their troops behind them.  Flashes of bloodshed, of flesh in the air, a mix or white and red coalesced into a pink cloud.  They marched on through the pink fog…then, as quickly as it came, the image went dark again.  A new image came into Lala’s mind.  The artist, followed by her drones and muses, sitting atop a globe, sitting atop with someone she had never met before…working together towards a common goal. 

Lala began drawing the new image, and as she drew, the cacophony outside dulled; it subsided. Muse Leira appeared at her side with a hesitant smile.  Lala finished the drawing, but just as her pencil left the paper, the noise started up again.

Lala covered her ears and Muse Leira peered closer at the new concept for the third painting.  She read the title below:

Canvas 3: “Together, We Conquer the World.”

Muse Leira couldn’t have been happier with the results of their collaboration—she thought of Colonel Morgado, their late nights together planning their battle strategies, side by side like in Lala’s drawing.  Before the Colonel’s death, Muse Leira thought that they would one day conquer the world, and now through Lala Drona’s piece, in some way, they had. 

Muse Leira looked up from the sketch, and found Lala packing her bags.  The barking had stopped outside, but continued to pulsate through Lala’s mind. 

“The barking in my head won’t stop.” Lala said.  Lala held her head and threw her backpack over her shoulder.  She smiled.  “And I think our work here is done.”  She approached Muse Leira, who was standing in front of the door of the room.  Lala stood there, canvases under her arms, and looking Leira up and down.  She took a deep breath and then hugged her. “Thank you, Leira…for everything— I know I’m not easy to work with, and my inspiration extraction techniques are unconventional, but I knew you could do it all along.”  Lala patted Leira on the shoulder.  “Well done.”  Lala sighed, pushed through the doorway, and ventured into the night.