Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Grave Digger - Art


In Grave Digger, an abstracted image in the form of a shovel sheds new light on the nature of life and death. The image in this painting resembles the broad end of a shovel, particularly one used in the digging of graves. The image of the shovel is dark and gloomy, an allusion to the tool’s morbid purpose. A dark, dense circle of black stands at one end of the shovel, perhaps an indication of the hole that the shovel is digging. Additionally, this dark, menacing orb could represent death itself, watching ever-present over the proceedings in the graveyard.

Though most of the painting features dark, gloomy shades of black and gray, one patch of color shines through. A stripe of green crosses the surface of the shovel, punctuating the darkness with a splash of color. This green patch can be interpreted in a literal sense as a blade of grass that was dug up with the soil when the gravedigger disrupted the earth in the cemetery. Yet the meaning of this blade of green is much more significant. Green is a color associated with new life, and the presence of this vibrant shade of green suggests the regenerative qualities of life. Though death claims one life, another life emerges, completing the cycle.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

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