🖋️ Art Review: “Too Hot to Dance” and Other Balcony Operas
By Renata Feldspar, Senior Critic at The Desert Register
Terry Hastings’ “Epic” series is not so much a collection of artworks as it is a staged reckoning—part fever dream, part neighborhood surveillance. Set in a Mid-Century Modern palatial estate that feels equal parts Palm Springs and purgatory, Hastings assembles a cast of recurring characters who lounge, judge, seduce, and stretch across time like memory in drag.
At the top of the frame, the “Critics Circle”—a quartet of balcony-bound observers modeled after Hastings, his landlords, and a neighbor—peer down with the kind of theatrical disdain usually reserved for regional dinner theatre. Their presence is both meta and menacing: they are the artist’s conscience, his chorus, and his occasional drinking buddies.
Below them, the estate teems with archetypes: leather queens too hot to dance, hooligans mid-pose, modern dancers caught in a loop of expressive agony. Each figure is rendered with cut-out precision, yet their gestures suggest improvisation. It’s choreography by way of collage—every limb a line of dialogue.
What makes the series sing is its refusal to flatten into satire. Yes, it’s funny. Yes, it’s camp. But beneath the surface is a deep dramaturgical intelligence: a sense that every pose, every poolside glance, is part of a larger narrative ecosystem. Hastings isn’t just staging scenes—he’s building a mythology, one huffing Boston Terrier and one judgmental neighbor at a time.
If you’re looking for serenity, look elsewhere. If you’re looking for theatre, you’ve found your balcony.
 
This stunning photo/graphic is a masterpiece created by renowned photographer Terry Hastings. Inspired by the cut outs of Henri Matisse, Terry starts with photosgraphs of his models in action, cuts them out in photoshop, turns them a solid color and scratches in a few key details.  The piece  is playful and beautiful.
 
This work is offered as a 20x40, 30x60 or 40 x 80 inch print. Please inquire about other sizes. 
The work is titled, numbered, a limited edition of 10, and signed by the artist.
 
The photo is shipped in a double tube for safety.
Please allow 5 - 7 days for production and shipping.