From the Artist: I had been reading of ethnic cleansing atrocities, mutilation by machete etc., immediately before reading the March project description. Here the knife has created and scarred the image.
From the Painting Guide: A painting tool called a "knife" does seem rather apt for this subject matter. I find the abstracted figure, reduced to its essential shapes and elements, is very striking. I found the more I looked, the more variations in color emerged in the figure, and the slashes on the face harder to ignore.
Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Suggest Rather than Explain: Look at the background, which doesn't have any detail painted in it yet the dark marks to the left of the hands invite interpretation in the viewer's eye. For instance, is it a wall marked by sweat, dirty, and blood from people's hands? A prison wall? An execution wall?
Complementary Colors: Purple and yellow being complementary colors, make one another appear more vivid. That's part of the reason the color in this painting is so intense and striking.
From the Painting Guide: A painting tool called a "knife" does seem rather apt for this subject matter. I find the abstracted figure, reduced to its essential shapes and elements, is very striking. I found the more I looked, the more variations in color emerged in the figure, and the slashes on the face harder to ignore.
Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Suggest Rather than Explain: Look at the background, which doesn't have any detail painted in it yet the dark marks to the left of the hands invite interpretation in the viewer's eye. For instance, is it a wall marked by sweat, dirty, and blood from people's hands? A prison wall? An execution wall?
Complementary Colors: Purple and yellow being complementary colors, make one another appear more vivid. That's part of the reason the color in this painting is so intense and striking.