Void

Negative Space

21" x 36"
Acrylic on Unstretched Canvas

I think it well enough goes without saying that I was in a pretty dark place when this was conjured up.  The main emotion behind it is one of loss... of emptiness.  It is the feeling that remains when something once present is removed.... if that thing had never been present in the first place, you wouldn't think twice now about why it is not there... but the void left in its wake can be an all-consuming vacuum of nothingness, so big it threatens to tear you apart.  This piece, for me, explores the growing emptiness that can wrench a soul into pieces if left untamed, and also how the literal negative space in our lives creates a figurative negative space for us to place ourselves in.

It was hard to capture in a photograph, but in this detail you can sort of see the effect achieved by laying clear acrylic varnish over her eyes so it fell like tears.  On a completely aesthetic level, the addition of several textures to a painting is something I've found myself doing a lot of lately..