The expedition

Comment

Comment by Resident Curator on December 21, 2015 at 9:30am

Curator’s Comments:  

 

The Expedition is an intriguing painting in its unusual formal characteristics and narrative focus.  While many of the pieces you’ve posted on the site appear to have been directly derived from photographic sources, this figurative work moves beyond straightforward representation, and has a remarkable flattening of space.  The pale flesh tones in the children align with the light tan interior of the cardboard box, which floats over a deep red-brown deck.  While a cast shadow would have grounded them in the realistic space, eliminating shadows gives them an otherworldly aura, adding to their childlike innocence and suspension of reality. The diagonals of the red broom handles add additional visual interest and movement to the space, while keeping the main subject matter centered in the picture plane.  The side of the house and inclusion of a small bit of green foliage contextualize them in a domestic landscape, and break up the geometry of the container.  I also like the window opening on the left side of the space; it gives an opening/escape for both the children and viewer to recede back into the space.