Conceptual Writing – Interpretation of Others

A cold, winter morning in the forest. A misty, colourful and transparent fog manifests itself in the distance. A small, wooden house stands on stilts in the middle of a milky and cloudy, pale river with a dead-end bridge come up to it. An array of dark, tall evergreen trees is emerging from the left side, bringing a creepy feeling I to the welcoming atmosphere created by the house. A young girl is sitting on the bridge by the house, dipping her legs in the water, with a luggage by her side. She’s looking nostalgically at the water and is clinging to an animal on her lap. The atmosphere created by the right side of the painting is calm and neutral; from the left a feeling of uneasiness and fear can be sensed, however they both clash in the middle. The only bright or happy colours are on the house. She is not proportionate to the environment and is bigger than the house.

This is the anonymous conceptual writing piece that I received as a stimulus to create a painting. I was first drawn in by the fairy tale aspect of the oversized girl reminiscing by the house. However, after reading over the piece several times, I was more inclined to look closer into the forest and the house that were both described frequently. This led me to explore the wilderness of places such as America and the linking of humanity back to nature.