Outside/Inside

[Alexandra Tyng]

Chris, I'm sorry I just missed your comments as I was responding to the previous ones. Thank you so much! Yes, I do enjoy complexity. But I also like simplicity. The challenge I think it not going too far with complexity and trying to synthesize it into an overall simplicity. I'm not sure I'm there yet, but are we ever "there?"

[Tom Edgerton]

Apart from being a fabulous painting, it has evoked some strange reactions....

There is such a feeling of space and air outside the lighthouse, and everyone but the subject is in the out-of-doors. It almost makes his placement seem claustrophobic and contained, even though he's behind glass and has such a panoramic view.

I feel it's as if he has found himself in middle age in a "box" so to speak, and though the setting is so beautiful, he's cut off from actually enjoying and participating in the environment. He seems so focused on his responsibility as the watchman, he's not aware of how beautiful the surround is. And so, his younger, more carefree self is inviting him to re-connect with the world, but it remains to be seen if he will notice the invitation.

So, as these exercises are, I've told you more about me than him. Thanks, Dr. Tyng.

(It's a wonderful painting.)

[Alexandra Tyng]

Fascinating interpretation, Tom, and thanks for sharing your personal associations. I didn't think of the young figure in that role of inviting him to come out from behind the glass, but it fits very well. I like its positive message.

I can't tell you how interesting it has been to read your reaction (and others' reactions) to this painting. When I was planning it and painting it, I tried not to over-think it; I just knew it should be a certain way, and things started to fall into place. There were so many things in my mind but I didn't want to intellectualize, just express them through the paint.

[Chris Saper]

This amazing painting...

It has really been a delight to read everyone's responses.

Some years ago, I bought a painting from one of my teachers, Dan Goozee (fabulous draftsman). His feeling is that a painting is never complete until it is viewed. How strongly this thread supports that belief!

[Linda Brandon]

Sorry to be so late on here -
I saw this painting in Alex's studio and it grabbed my attention (and my admiration) just as it has for all who have commented here. What speaks to me is the impatience of the younger figure and the gravity and introspection of the older one

As usual, I am so inspired by your intelligent and thoughtful figurative work, Alex. It's not easy to construct a visual that conveys psychological complexity in the portrait genre. I really appreciate your strong work.

[Alexandra Tyng]

Originally Posted by Chris Saper

Dan Goozee['s] feeling is that a painting is never complete until it is viewed.

Thanks for repeating that great thought, Chris! I'm honored that you think this painting is a good example of it.

Linda, thanks so much! After the PSA conference some of the artists stayed on in Philadelphia and Linda was one of them who came over to my studio. I admit I was more than a little nervous having my work looked over by so many top calibre artists.

Chris and Linda, your appreciation means a lot.

[Nancy Bea Miller]

Oh wow! Such fascinating responses, and well-deserved: it is a fascinating painting. I think that allegorical paintings often come a little too close to kitsch for my comfort, but yours strays nowhere near that dread realm.

You asked for people's impressions. To me the painting which seems to be all about duality, similarly conveys many complex and contradictory feelings: loss, acceptance, regret,satisfaction, brashness, caution ,freedom, constraint. Perhaps even feelings of pain on aging, yet at the same time that pain is caused by the intense joy of living.

Congratulations on your tour de force!

[Julie Deane]

Beautiful Painting, Alex! On the technical side, I love your brushwork and description of what you see.

On the subjective side, without knowing the personal history behind the painting, I would see youth-age contrast with a description of attitudes correlating to each time of life. I would wonder about seeing through the figures - are they ghosts? In the mind's eye?

[Alexandra Tyng]

Nancy Bea, thanks for looking in! I always look forward to your unique insight. I like the way you point out the broad conceptual issues behind the portrait. Probably one reason why you and I have such long conversations is that we're constantly seeing dualities and contradictions (or apparent contradictions). Now that you point them out, I see that they are indeed woven into the making of this painting.

And I'm so relieved it's not kitschy

Julie, thanks, I appreciate hearing your reaction. The contrast between youth and middle age was definitely in my mind, and also the continuity of life between those times. You mention the effect of "seeing through" the figures. I was wondering whether anyone would notice, i.e. whether my attempt at painting this was at all effective. There are a lot of reflections of coastline in the different layers and angles of glass, plus coastline that is actually viewed through the glass, and I was trying to paint them in an ambiguous way so that the young figure would almost become transparent, as if his time layer was not quite solid.

[Christy Talbott]

I'm in awe of how beautifully this is painted!

I feel a little self conscious giving you my impression of this, because it seems so personal. I will give it a try though. Here's what comes to my mind...

The middle aged man is turning his back on his younger self or dreams in some way. The older seems sorrowful and maybe feels he's trapped or has shut himself off. The younger man whose spirit is of course still within him, but shut out, is trying to wake him up in a sense to the beautiful world with it's opportunities all around him.