60x48 ACRYLIC & OIL PAINTING - unframed
A festive image depicting the few remaining leaves drifting curled and dry among the deepening drifts of the first winter snow? A holiday wreath lying among lengths of decorative paper chains ready to be festooned around windows and doors? A large and enticing gift box, wrapped in glittering paper and tied with festive string topped with a decorative holly wreath?
Or perhaps something else entirely…
Consider, instead, the tendencies of wrongdoers throughout history, to show leniency and compassion at times of religious significance. Whether the short-term cessation of violence in a war-torn country, the stay of execution of a long-suffering inmate on death row, or the brief pause in the violation of once optimistic young people trafficked or held against their will.
What drives people of such power and influence to pause so briefly, the perpetration of the most violent, debasing, and in many cases, the final act of ending life, during a religious holiday? Do those people believe doing so is the divine will of a being greater than themselves, that they are ordained to bestow such ‘favors’ on behalf of this entity, or might it be done simply out of fear and superstition. Whatever the reasons, one should question why such brief and isolated acts of compassion are timed to coincide with religious holidays.
The painting, “Beneath the Oak”, attempts to show the contradiction of such behaviors.
The paint thickened foundation depicting darkened layers of chains and a weathered length of rope lying coiled on the ground, represent restraint, oppression and the perpetration of violence. The taut ‘cross’ dissecting the coil suggests the perpetrators of such acts choose to bestow their favors during religious holidays to liken themselves to these worshipped entities. They may also believe that doing so will provide absolution for their sins, thereby freeing them from their pasts so that they may once again take up their mantels of violence and intimidation, unburdened. The scattered ‘oak apples’, which are parasitic round galls created when a wasp impregnates a leaf with chemicals that alter the leaves’ growth to a form that the wasp’s larvae can feed upon, represent the human equivalent who, by manipulation, threats and intimidation, disrupt the balance of society.
Conversely, however, the falling and fallen leaves indicate that attitudes are changing among the masses. The leaves piled around the rope coiled on the ground, gradually increases in size until the leaves begin to blow freely once again, representing oppressed peoples who, by coming together, are able to overcome the obstacles that inhibit and obstruct them. The acorns of course are a symbol of hope for the future.
