Blog / 2020 / Meaningful Meaninglessness
May 12, 2020
The one detail that viewers almost never mention when they respond to this piece are the fish. If you look carefully, you catch a glimpse of them swimming around in the hazmat suit. It’s as if the suit is an extension of the figure, making the fish a manifestation of what’s going on in her head. Or maybe the suit is a completely new environment and the figure is part fish too. Then again, it's also possible that she is drowning in her protective gear.
The fish, like all elements of this image, are meant to be meaningfully meaningless, illustrating my climate anxiety—my solastalgia—with a jumble of imagery. This fluidity leaves a lot of room for interpretation, and right now, in the context of COVID-19, this versatility is especially valuable, because in a pandemic you can’t go wrong with a hazmat suit.
When People Tell Me Everything Is Going to Be Okay
2019
acrylic on canvas
16 x 14 inches
That’s why I chose this piece for the silent online art auction through BSB Gallery. The auction is set up to help both artists and gallery weather this crisis, when little other assistance appears to be forthcoming.
I never do doorbuster sales of my work, because discounting art is disrespectful to everyone who has ever supported my work, but I have made an exception in this case. When People Tell Me Everything Is Going to Be Okay and other works of the same size usually sell for over $1000, but the bidding on this piece starts at just $600.
The auction ends Friday. You can bid on my art here.
Maybe this post made you think of something you want to share with me? Or perhaps you have a question about my art? I’d love to hear from you!
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