There is no right or wrong way to view or interpret this painting. The way I feel about it is not the way you may feel about it; the way I believe that it communicates may not be the way you believe it communicates. There is no one size fits all. And that is very important.
Month: October 2019
Thursday
There are so many, many things I can say about this work, but coming from a place of white privilege, they will sound trite or even out of touch. I don’t want to sound that way, so I will say this instead:
This work, however much it speaks of darkness and pain, also speaks of hope. It is powerful because it is full of hope and dreams.
Wednesday
Astrolabes were the Google Maps of the world before the digital age. They are incredibly important and to have such a fine example in the SLAM collection makes my nerdy little heart indescribably happy.
Tuesday
You know what these look like? Faberge enamelware designs from the 1890s. I guess we know where he lifted some of his inspiration from, eh?
Monday
This is another example of naturalism mixed with calligraphic elements: the deer, the leaves, the flowers and vines, then the Words. It must be absolutely clear that the Words are the most important parts of the piece, not the other illustrative elements – they merely serve to underscore the rest of the point. The calligraphy is striking and handsome, and clearly meant to be the absolute focal point.
Sunday
This is pretty for the sake of being pretty. There’s not an ulterior motive for it, nor a practical usage for it. This is just something that you’d put out because you were cash rich and you wanted to flaunt it.
Saturday
I do love some old glassware, and this is no exception. The color marbling/frosting is particularly interesting and I think has to do with sudden temperature differentiation in the cooling process – but what do I know? I’m not a glassmaker.
Friday
This is not, in any way shape or form, meant to be anything other than sexy and a bit of flash. It is style and sass. It is ‘I’m better than you’ distilled to a fine point and hammered home.
Thursday
I don’t know what that decoration is meant to be, but to me, it resembles a hawk or a falcon. Regardless, it is beautiful in both its simplicity and its ornateness.
Wednesday
This is a more traditional calligraphy-based decoration. Note the lettering that looks like swans and/or camels in its elongated forms.