What do you make of this painting?

[greyl]

It was painted several years ago with a nod to pareidolia , and I'm curious to hear some interpretations of its meaning.

[jrw14125]

1. big bang

[greyl]

25. yes

[ThomCat]

2. I see the face inside the cross.

I'm guessing this is a religious painting. Grace radiating outward or some-such.

The style and technique are interesting. If it wasn't a christian themed painting I'd like it.

[greyl]

26. yes nt

[Dorian Gray]

45. I see that too

My initial reaction was that this was a depiction of the "Big Bang," then after a minute of viewing the painting, I saw the cross with what looks like a ghostly appartition emanating from it.

So, it's almost as though this is an amalgamation of both Science and Religion.

It's kind of cool, actually.

[greyl]

55. Thanks. :) Science and Religion.

Hmmm, I think you've earned a brownie. :)\
Reconciling science and religion was something that I philosophized about a lot in those days.
I stopped believing in God in my 7th year of Catholic school, and refuted the existence of God through high school in favor of science. Then one day I was watching the movie "Imagine" with a friend - thoroughly stoned - and the notion that we don't have hands in heaven came to mind, struck me like a thunderbolt, and I entered into a several year period of "faith salad" consciousness exploration, shall we say. I decided that I didn't stop believing in God in the seventh grade, I stopped believing in the one god they were trying to push onto me. I started thinking that all religions are God talking to people in a way specifically appropriate to those particular people(we've all heard that said as adults, I'm sure). A new-agey creative energy of the universe type apologetic attitude which included trying to validate religion by drawing similarities with soundbites from quantum physics. Zukav's "The Dancing Wu Li Masters", was a big influence, as were Joseph Campbell's lectures on PBS.
Anyway, the intense imagery and ritual of Catholicism are long lasting in ones subconscious, especially the hellish parts, and there it is.

[okasha]

47. Interesting responses.

I see a starburst, not a cross.

[greyl]

53. By that you mean 5 pointed star, or just a general burst? nt

[Kutjara]

3. Someone being violently sick, directly at the viewer. n/t

[Dufaeth]

21. LOL!

:rofl:

[greyl]

27. yes, vomitus nt

[kaygore]

4. I see a face in the middle

Pain is emanating from the obscured face, perhaps from all the frustration with the Bush administration, neo-cons, and the religious wrong?

[greyl]

36. Nice job. :) n t

[Sequoia]

5. Someone throwing up popcorn and their brains

thru their nose.

[stillcool]

6. mind blowing reality

[greyl]

28. Triple yes. nt

[izzie]

7. Some one who thinks you can paint before you learn to draw

--

[greyl]

29. You're no fun. :)

Try losing your ego and making sense of it.

[izzie]

42. OK it is early man trying to come out of his ape background

--

[cdb]

8. 1,000 micrograms? n/t

[greyl]

30. Hell yeah. :) nt

[ChiciB1]

9. I Like The Painting Myself.... But My first Thought Upon Seeing It

was that it lloking like the Lion from the Wizard of Oz!

Sorry, I don't mean to be rude, it's the first thing I thought of.

[greyl]

31. Thanks, your view is totally appreciated.

I can't imagine any rudeness in what you said. :)

[InternalDialogue]

10. Well, with the face and the somewhat cosmic explosion look,

the first thing that comes to mind is an allusion to creation. But the more I look at it, the more I get an equal feeling that the motion is inward, toward the face and the cross.

Either way I perceive the motion, I get a lot of dissonance from what appears to be something very violent and geologic and something very human.

[smirkymonkey]

23. That's pretty close to what I see too, however I can't decide

whether it seems like an implosion or an explosion. At first glance it seems like an explosion, but there is something about the energy of the painting that seems to be going inward, toward the face instead of away from it.

[greyl]

32. Ah, interesting.

Dissonance.
Violence.
Humanity.

[Cooley Hurd]

11. "BOOM!"

...or "BLAM!"

I read a lot of comic books when I was a kid, what can I say?

[greyl]

38. That's good. nt

[greyl]

12. Wow, great responses! Thanks - keep em comin :) nt

[napi21]

13. Shrub's brain exploding! Finally!!!! n/t

[TheCowsCameHome]

14. Bathroom floor at 4am, after an entire night of beer and pizza.

[hunter]

22. Actually it's the toilet bowl.

You can see a reflection of your face in the water.

[saberjet22]

15. Art? Bad art!

They left out the sequins.
Sidney Delevante would have liked it.

[greyl]

33. Ok, but what sense do you make of it?

[LouisianaLiberal]

16. Maybe this is unfair...

But it reminds me of paintings made by the criminally insane as they undergo therapy in an attempt to exorcise their demons. Again, maybe that's unfair...

[greyl]

34. Unfair? Not at all.

Thanks very much for supplying your reaction. ;)

[Proud_Democratt]

17. Jesus's face on a pizza........face on toast........grilled cheese???

[arwalden]

18. Is Represents A Suicide

A face-first fall onto a sidewalk from an extremely tall building.

And it also reminds me a lot of these things:

[greyl]

37. Can you expound upon that please? nt

[arwalden]

43. Not Really...

... not without getting graphic and gross. I just looks like the results of one of David Letterman's "throwing things off of tall buildings" gags. Ker-SPLATT! Guts all over the sidewalk... with just the shadow of a human-looking sad face in the middle to give a hint at the fact that the mess you now see on the sidewalk used to be a human.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

19. It is a bit disturbing

and to me it brings violent thoughts...or even death. Definitely makes me stop and look, but I wouldn't want to hang it in my living room. I am certain it will scare small children!

[greyl]

40. Why? nt

[TallahasseeGrannie]

41. Children are very sensitive to faces

and particularly ambiguous faces...seeing faces in wallpaper, etc. Actually, my two year old grandson saw it on the screen and was upset by it.

[greyl]

54. Heck, I'm sorry.

I'm sure you found a way to make it better for him. (not the picture necessarily; his feelings)
It wasn't intended to be a pretty "armchair" type of picture, yet it was intended to be interesting to watch at certain moments. I haven't had it hanging up for a long time. Probably because I haven't had hallucinogens in a long time.

Curious, do you have any crucifixes hanging in your place? (crosses including the body of Jesus?)

[TallahasseeGrannie]

62. That's okay!

Not all pictures are meant to be viewed by others. Some are internal dialogues.

I have one crucifix but it has the Risen Christ on it, not the dying Christ. He has on his fancy robes and a halo and stuff.

T-Grannie

[htuttle]

20. It reminds me of a Rorschach Test

:evilgrin:

[greyl]

35. shhhh nt

[Quantess]

24. so that's a painting?

To me, it looks like a magnified gem, that just happened to have a smiley face.

Looks like a wintery blast. This could be a great ad campaign for soothing eucalyptus cough drops.

[bluesbassman]

39. Umm, Katherine Harris's makeup removing towel? n/t

[arwalden]

44. Remember Those "I Ran Into Tammy Faye At The Mall" Tee-Shirts?

Back in the mid-'80s icon, Tammy Faye Bakker's smudged likeness was garishly silk-screened onto T-shirts... it was pretty funny.

[greyl]

50. And Homer Simpson's make-up application gun. :) nt

[bluesbassman]

58. Never saw one...

Wish I had, sounds like a hoot. Hey, do you suppose that Tammy Faye was Katherine's make-up mentor? Sorry, probably shouldn't speak ill of the dead (Katherine's Senate campaign).:crazy:

[salvorhardin]

46. Obviously, you're ripping off the Martians

You better watch out. If the Spirit or Opportunity rovers ever find the Martian yellowpages I'm reporting you for interplanetary copyright infringement. And believe me, you definitely don't want the Martians to get all DMCA on your ass.

[greyl]

51. Evidence for Christ's visit to Mars. ;) nt

(a joke on steven e. jones)

[Ready4Change]

48. "When the paint jar tipped off of the table..."

"Leave it like it is"
Brian Wilcox

Now when the paint jar tipped
Off of the table
You watched as it started to fall
Glass popped, shattered and splattered
And paint spray hit the wall

Bright, blue glossy enamel
Across the kitchen floor
You said, "Good God, look at that pattern
I've never seen that before"

Chorus
Leave it like it is
Never mind the turpentine
Leave it like it is
Its fine

Now when the paint dried
You gave it a title
You called it "Kitchen Blue"
A white frame painted around it
And gallery lighting too

Rich folks come over to dinner
They all want one of their own
They say "How much? Who's the artist"
And, "My what a beautiful home"

Chorus

Now most folks suffer in sorrow
Thinking they're just no good
They don't match the magazine model
As close as they think they should

They live just like the "paint by numbers"
The teacher would be impressed
A life-time of follow the lines
So it's just like all of the rest

Chorus

[Goblinmonger]

49. OK, I'll bite

I see movement. To me it is clearly outward movement and not inward movement.

My eyes are clearly drawn to the hint of a face, but if I just concentrate on one of the orifaces, I see nothing but a void. There are a couple of the pieces of shrapnel that hint at skulls, too. The topmost piece of shrapnel looks like a fairy/pixie.

What is my overall impression? Violent, choking oppression.

[greyl]

52. Is that with or without seeing the cross? :)

And, do you think your impression would have been the same if it were mostly blue instead of red?

[Goblinmonger]

60. That is without the cross

I can see the cross after people mentioned it, but that is not what registered in my mind.

I don't think I would have the violent reaction I do if it were blue and not red.

[greyl]

56. In addition to post #55, there's a song by The Cure called "The Blood"

which was the immediate inspiration for this exorcism of a painting, fwiw. Thanks for all your responses, people. :)

The Blood

Tell me who doesn't love
What can never come back
You can never forget how it used to feel
The illusion is deep
Its as deep as the night
I can tell by your tears you remember it all

I am paralysed by the blood of Christ
Though it clouds my eyes
I can never stop

How it feels to be dry
Walking bare in the sun
Every mirage I see is a mirage of you
As I cool in the twilight
Taste the salt on my skin
I recall all the tears
All the broken words

I am paralysed by the blood of Christ
Though it clouds my eyes
I can never stop

When the sunsets glow drifts away from you
You'll no longer know
If any of this was really true at all
-Robert Smith

[TreasonousBastard]

57. Try turning it upside down...

and see what happens. It's not that obvious, but it does change the character of the "face."

The exploding bits and pieces make no sense. At first glance they seem to be flying out, but that's only because of the light trails outwards. Then you see the stronger, but darker, trails heading in. Ahhh... dualities...

The face is too obvious to be a test. It's impossible not to see the eyes, nose, and mouth. And a sort of helmet. The cross thing looks at first blush to be mutant ears, but a cross will do as well as anything else. Far more symbolic than Ferenghi ears to most people. The dash of red suggests it could be part of the helmet, too.

OK, I blew it up bigger, and it looks like there's some texturing in there that would affect viewing the original. And, the larger it gets, the more it looks like an explosion, with the dark stuff not trails but dust blowing out ahead of the "rocks."

Meaning? It really doesn't say much to me. It's mysterious without a clue how to solve the mystery.

[saltpoint]

59. The painting is stunning. Was the "face" in the near-center of the

painting strategized by the painter, or did the image only become manifest after the painting was complete?

This makes for some dramatic material and I find it genuinely interesting.

[greyl]

63. Hmmm. So is a gentle tap on the noggin with a sledgehammer. :)

Seriously, thanks for appreciating it. :)
The face was intentionally there in the beginning.

[MemphisTiger]

61. Seems vagainal to me

or maybe it's like being born and coming through the birth canal and seeing the doctors face. For what it's worth I've never had an art history class, I was a music guy.