This expressionist piece poses more questions than it answers, demanding visceral engagement with the cobalt moonlit landscape and its oppositional occupants—one infinitesimal, one monumental, one light as a feather, one heavy as the earth itself. Replete with symbolism, the work wordlessly encourages the viewer to dive into its quiet depths, inviting investigation, rewarding contemplation.
Doubtless the most arresting aspect of this painting is the enormous yellow face, red flowers blooming at its base, swaying in either celebration or commiseration. Imposing yet benign, it seems to smile at the small white figure hurtling down into the choppy blue water below. But its black eye is sightless, empty and blind. It stares, but does not see.
The sky surrounds the moon but does not touch it, cannot swallow it. It is connected to the figure, and the figure is sacred, untouchable, ineffable. And so the sky rebels. It swirls and turns upon itself, calm from a distance, chaotic up close. The br…
