Broken Chains

Additional Information

The negative space is full of warm and cool whites and historical markings. Dramatic lines mark the edges of the piece, while softer lines play in the light part of the painting. This painting has so many dimensions, reflective of the many emotions it evokes. Sometimes, we are holding ourselves back from past pain and doubt. The dramatic lines on the bottom represent barbed wire being cut and setting yourself free from obstacles. The soft rounded lines scraped away in the centre signal the bright soul that has been worn and worked over, but ultimately it still remains bright and pure. While creating this piece, I remembered past pain and doubt I have felt as I painted the underlayers. As I reached the top layer, I pictured all of that doubt and pain being painted over with confidence and healing. I scraped back this positive layer in places, as a reminder of what moved us through those soul scarring times. I live in the inner city, so I also thought about the houseless people I see frequently, some of the awful things that have happened to them and tried to relate to their struggles as best as I could. For the final layer, I switched my intention to confidence and hope as I thought about how hard we work to overcome pain and feel empowered from the struggle. The old adage, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" is very much alive in this painting. Part of my earnings go to The Bissell Centre located in Edmonton's Inner City. This painting is ready to hang and is on 1/2" profile quality birch panel.

Details