The Emergence of Life Within the Echoes of Eternity
Continuing my microscopic painting series developed over the past year, I turned towards Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, a disorder that transforms muscles and ligaments into bones. Due to the brutal internal processes triggered by this disease, it has earned the nickname ‘Stone Man Syndrome.’ However, what intrigues me about this condition isn't its brutality, but the contrast between the fluidity of muscle and the rigidity of bone. This juxtaposition is one I explored extensively throughout the painting process.
In addition to drawing inspiration from Stone Man Syndrome, this painting also reflects the works of Helen Frankenthaler, known for her fluid shapes and abstract masses that emphasize spontaneity. As Frankenthaler stated, "A really good picture looks as if it's happened at once.” Like her, I aimed to create a painting without a specific end goal, focusing instead on the process. Furthermore, her technique involved pouring thinned paint directly onto the canvas without a brush. This approach allowed the paint to soak into the canvas, resulting in softer, muted colors. Frankenthaler would lay her large canvases on the floor, moving around them while painting, similar to her mentor Jackson Pollock, who "danced" around his canvases. I incorporated this technique into my work by adding a transparent base layer before the thicker marks, continuously moving around while creating the piece, and using unconventional painting tools to splash different hues onto the canvas wherever my subconscious found it fitting.
After stepping back from the canvas, the bursts of red seemed to evoke raw muscle tissue, suggesting pain and rupture, while the blue and white tones surrounding the bones conveyed their cold, ghostly nature. The skeletons were painted with firmer strokes, appearing desperate to break free from the enveloping muscle tissue that restrains these skulls in its grasp.
Beyond this contrast between fluidity and rigidity, this piece comments on the inevitable fate of all our bodies and our resistance to it. Even those not afflicted by this condition will one day be buried, their figures reduced to the bones that once held their bodies. We fight against this, devising various methods to slow down our decomposition or defy our mortality. Like the muscle tissue restraining the skulls, we also attempt to keep death from escaping the grasp of control we find solace in. However, even though death is unavoidable, it should not be viewed as omnipotent or fear-inducing. While the passage of time causes our flesh to fade, our bones are eternal, serving as anchors to the past within the present. Because of this, the dead are never truly gone. Symbolically, this suggests that those who inhabited this earth, built lives upon it, and were ultimately consumed by it, remain with the living in spirit. Thus, our presence on this planet will always be remembered.
Our descent toward death is often painful and feared. However, as the bones of our fellow humans emerge from their bodies, we must be reminded of something significant. The ones we have lost, though eroded and deceased, will always be facing upward toward the same moon that we see encompassing our world every day.
