Ah, the agony of looking at a painting with your eyes
squinted and your brain constantly trying to absorb the signals and grasp the
true meaning of the work. Is that a kettle or is it a moon or is it a man with
a head of a kettle?! Mind boggling at times, isn’t it?!
Being a young artist, I often came across paintings which
seemed so beautiful with the elegance of the strokes and the vibrancy of the
colors, however appreciating the depth of the work was a milestone I’d often stumble
over.
They say determination is the key to every hurdle and it
sure was for me. It may be dishonest of me to say that I’ve mastered the art of
truly recognizing the depth of paintings, but I could easily say that I’ve
moved a step ahead from being hopeless.
Ever since, Cubism has been my forte. I have worked with cubism
for a few years now, although Mirror Image is one of my recent works. Why is it
so unique? Let me answer the question through the true explanation of the work.
The work is known as Mirror Image as it is my perception on
how an individual looks at himself through a mirror, not physically but consciously.
The reds in the painting portray the ambition, the drive and
the fire inside one’s self to achieve what they desire. The swirls in the face and
the chest define the confusion, the misery and the hardships one faces through
the trials in life.
Moreover the symbols of fire on the chest depict how failure
burns every part of one’s soul. Hardships tend to drive a person towards evil, in
search of an easier way out. Peace and serenity tend to be at the back of our
heads (as portrayed by the peace symbols in the background) though we fail to
notice it.
As represented
through the huge sign of peace on the chest (the only area left purely white as
part of the human body), every human is in search for eternal peace. We may not
realize it now, especially when we’re all busy chasing our dreams, but we will
some day.
For many the definition of peace may be to achieve their
eventual goals, but we must realize that true peace can be achieved from as
little as a smile from an innocent child, or helping the ones in need. I’m not suggesting
that we should all stop dreaming or running after our ambitions, I’m just
saying that we should all take a minute to look at ourselves in the mirror and
evaluate where we stand.
To sum up, the Mirror Image symbolizes the stages of one’s
life and hopefully helps us realize the true meaning of PEACE.
To get you started here’s an image that’ll help you smile! J
I started my exploration of painting through cubism. I found that although I wanted to paint abstract, I needed a sense of discipline, some boundaries and rules through which to channel my creativity. I painted a series works based on Renoir's nude bather but in a cubist style. These take pride of place in my efforts to become a painter. From cubism I derived a set of principles which I still use in my pure abstract creations, be it obvious or not.
ReplyDeleteThat's great Lexcen. I completely understand and agree with that. Sometimes, for a change, self defined boundaries give you a new outlook to things. I love painting in cubism because even though my thoughts are free, I like to pick up on a certain theme and explore it through the shapes/ colors I bound myself with.
DeleteSo glad to here from you. Apologies for the late reply once again, I've been busy with work. Will be uploading some new work soon though :)
Bumchkin