Subterranean Soul´s Escape 2013 Acrylics on Canvas Format: 50x60 cm Painting and Text: Gian Merlevede |
Subterranean Soul´s Escape - Come to Light
Takeaway value The composition mediates a contrastive atmosphere. This painting is about the moment one sees daylight again after a deep dive in the ocean, or after an underground exploration through a cave system. It marks the emotional and psychological transition from a dark, life-threatening place towards a life-giving place flooded by daylight. To me this picture delivers a freeing sensation. Like a diver surfacing from a deep and dark spot in the ocean. Or like the rescue of a caver from a situation of being stuck in a cave passage, the release from some kind of labyrinthian nausea. In short: Light at the end of the tunnel! Extended introduction By and large I prepare for the long-run with every project. But now and then a short-cut happens... delayed! This canvas birthed through several turnarounds. Lots of layers accumulated since its beginnings dating back to mid december 2006. At the start I had planned on making a variation on the theme Wrestling in the Sea with the One. End of 2011 I did reboot the painting, wanting to reprocess it for a series I tried on behalf of a client. Along the way I lost my appetite, as my painterly strategy came to a dead end. That didn´t bother me so much, as with acrylics it is always possible to overpaint and start afresh. At long last, in between things really, this visual compound suddenly crystallized. Suprisingly so, in the end the canvas accompanied me back to some version of the core theme I started with in the first place. To me this visual metaphor embodies the feeling of a psychological change-over, a radical shift. Like an emotional meltdown in the aftermath of suffering, the bearing of pain or distress. To come apart at the seams, and then, finally... to come to light! The composition mediates a contrastive atmosphere. This painting is about the moment one sees daylight again after a dangerously deep dive in the ocean, or after an underground exploration through a cave system. It marks the emotional and psychological transition from a dark, life-threatening place towards a life-giving place flooded by daylight. To me this picture delivers a liberating sensation. Like a swimmer surfacing from a deep and dark spot in the ocean, gasping for breath in the sunlight. Or like the rescue of a caver from underground, having been hopelessly stuck in a cavern section. The exhilarating moment of release from some kind of labyrinthian nausea. In short: Light at the end of the tunnel! The passage through the dark underworld of one´s own gloomy psyche seems of paramount importance when it comes to finding oneself and God the Creator. The entanglement hazard is high. Finding one´s way out can be a real challenge. Often help is needed. A seasened christian myself, I have at times encountered just this kind of help by the Holy Spirit, the rescue from spiritual chasms, hopelessness or the intractability of wounds. From lightless labyrinthian caves I was washed upstream, and out in the reassuring daylight. Finding a new breath, embracing life again. Psalm 71:20 sums it all up: "Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up." (New International Version) |
Copyright Artborne Erdeborn / Merlevede