Storm XV

 

Here’s how the “Storm” painting is related to the labyrinth.

The falling figure doesn’t necessarily need to be a person falling from the world trade center. Other falling figures come to mind, particularly Icarus, who flew too close to the sun on wings his father Daedalus made for him using wax and feathers; the wax melted and Icarus fell. Before making those fateful wings for his boy Daedalus built the labyrinth for Minos, as a consequence of his creation of a bronze cow for Minas’ wife, who needed it to consummate her unhealthy relationship with a bull that resulted in the birth of the minotaur. The labyrinth confined the minotaur who (perhaps understandably) was not thrilled to be half man and half bull. 

Satan falls from heaven in the mythical rebellion of the angels against G-d.

The flight of the shaman to visit the ancestral spirits may also apply to this figure. The great German artist Joseph Beuys is said to have fallen from the sky in his Junkers during World War Two, explaining his artistic and shamanic career with the legendary narrative he constructed to describe his experience.

The falling figure in this piece could represent any of these characters in our collective unconscious. Who is the falling figure to you?

I think that a successful painting makes it possible for individual viewers to interpret the piece to suit their own experiences. I enjoy creating narratives that allow a variety of interpretations, I don’t want to define the images too closely: there is no right answer. That’s the beauty of allegory: it’s infinitely re-definable.

What’s in the box?

The rose.