Osculation

There are many synonyms for the word “kissing” in the English language: smooching, pecking, necking, macking, frenching, getting to first base, etc. Although they all describe the same action, we somehow associate a different mental picture with each term. The word “osculation,” though, is simply the clinical term for kissing. Since it’s primarily used in science rather than in everyday life, we don’t associate it with any particular emotion or scene. In this painting, I tried to depict this concept; it is simply the act of kissing. There appears to be no passion, no emotion, no telling backstory. As the blank imagery behind the word “osculating” demands, there is simply one human being kissing another human being.