Sunday, July 19, 2009

Gender as Illusion - Art


Gender as Illusion is very simple, using a monochromatic color scheme and simple lines. Wavy lines move across the painting’s surface, moving unevenly and erratically like the readout of some instrument measuring a changing phenomenon; for example, a heart monitor of a critical patient or seismograph recording an aftershock. In this way, the painting brings out a feeling of panic or crisis in the viewer, as though the danger being recorded might be a current threat.

Yet the lines themselves are drawn in olive green, which is traditionally a color associated with peace. The olive branch has been a symbol of peace for centuries, and the choice of olive green for this piece makes a very direct statement. Emergency situations that create panic are often the most likely unifiers of divided people. Just as disagreeing family members will reconcile over a sick relation, natural disasters bring warring countries together for a common goal. This piece, with its single color and simple lines, makes a profound statement about the nature of human relations.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

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