Who's Afraid of an Abstract Painting?
People are afraid of my Bandicoot abstract painting.
My abstract painting Bandicoot has struck fear into some people. Several years ago, a law firm in Minneapolis acquired some original art for their offices. One of my paintings, Bandicoot, was supposed to be included in this group of work. I was informed that one of the partners in this law firm was terrified of this painting, so it was replaced with a different piece. My reaction to this decision was a combination of fascination and flattery. I can understand being afraid of a painting such as Edvard Munch’s The Scream, but to be moved that way by an abstract painting seems like an achievement. What makes this painting so scary? Let’s break it down.
This painting is from an era when I was doing most of the work via my feet. Wait, what? Yes, it started as an act of efficiency. I was working on a large commission of 10 diptychs 30x60” in size. I realized I could be adding media to paintings on the floor while finishing a piece on two of my easels. I then discovered that I enjoyed the forms I was creating with this change in my control. I’m very interested in making original forms, and forcing myself into this awkward way of painting certainly contributed to this idea. Bandicoot started as a black primed canvas. The red, blue and multicolored forms were all on the first layer. My favorite part of this piece are the candy cane swirls at the top center, which were done very fast. The majority of the yellow ochre color field were the final layers.
Is it scary? I recently shared this painting on social media with a description of having elements of chaos and disorder, which is how I see it. I received a wonderful response on Blue Sky from ruskinsociety.bsky.social who said:
“It’s not chaos, it feels more like dynamic equilibrium. It’s not disorder, it’s negotiation. Bandicoot seems to open the door to interpretation and lets us walk through it.”
Wow, that’s not scary at all! Let’s go with that, shall we? You can view Bandicoot on my website as well as prints available in various formats.
This piece reminds me of something out of “V” for Vendetta….I don’t know why - that’s just what struck me first. Of course, any law office would be freaked out by such a thing….I guess!! It would be interesting to see the other pieces they bought to hang on their walls and that might actually give us all a better idea as to why they objected to this particular one. In the end, its often annoying when people see something totally off about one’s work - I did a piece of a tree in the forrest in Autumn and one guy asked if I was trying to paint chicken feet. So yeah, it’s like that. LOL.
I really enjoyed your description, or if you prefer, explanation, of the creation and history of your painting. And yes, since you ask, I suppose I can imagine it might be frightening. There is something about the densities of the center as opposed to the middle spaces and the perimeters. But then again, I know very little about visual art. I only know what I like, which is pretty typical stuff. Gustaf Klimt is a fav, (but at least I’m not quite as cliche as choosing The Kiss as my favorite of his portraits.) I like your painting very much, actually.