A301 Dichotomy II

A301 Dichotomy II
20x24" oil on panel
$550.00

At first, beginning to work on the face of the background figure, and continuing the eye' pattern on the arm, I thought it was impossibly ugly. But as usual the combination of soft modelling and colourful patterns are beginning to work together to make an intriguing picture.

I finally settled down to work on a sketch in my sketchbook, and completed a fast under-painting in bright red and yellow, a visage with more zig-zags like lightening bolts. This seemed to warm me up, as I quite enjoyed myself, and I moved over to the table to work on A301 again, completing most of the pattern outlines in black. For this painting, I again tried to contrast the two characters, using geometric angular shapes for the background figure, and floral natural shapes for the front figure. It is hard to tell if the back figure is clutching the front one, or if the front figure is clutching herself, in a sort of protective gesture. It is the ambiguity of the gestures that interests me, because it is how life is. We are never quite sure what we are seeing, how we interpret things. I certainly feel that these chaotic patterns and colours represent our real life, almost overwhelming input of detail all the time, which our brains do an admirable job of filtering, and then the other layer of chaos, the accumulating burden of detail...ideas, events, images and just the things we pick up along the long way of our lives, a great many of them unresolved or perplexing to us, so that we tend in our idle moments to pick through it all, turning things over and over and wondering at them or grieving over them. We move forward, but are continuously glancing back, hence the horrific split; it's a wonder we don't have two heads.

A301 suddenly takes on great significance for me, as the myriad eyes on one character's robe squint and weep, the other character's eye as staring and empty. The clashing patterns are the too-bright world I cringe from, the world that makes my eyes water. The Christmas-coloured flowers of the other robe are my sanctuary. But I have yet to scribble on this painting.

... adding silver lines and another layer of background detail as well as patterns on the arm on the left. This arm is interesting, because it is difficult to make out whether it is the arm of the back figure or the one in the foreground, on the left. One is inclined to associate it with the foreground figure, so I added some of the background pattern to add to the ambiguity. My idea was always that the two figures are really the same person, the dichotomy of being.

It is a strange picture, because of the three arms. With a little imagination, you can attribute all three arms to either figure. I added to this illusion by giving the arms different patterns, not immediately identifiable with either character.

Anomaly Series