The Serendipitous Wreck
Going Forth With ApplesWhen she finishes a painting Amy says she's "never completely certain what it means or why i did it. but after time it somehow comes around to me and makes sense conceptually". For "Serendipitous Wreck," she started with fragments of imagery from a half-remembered dream.
Both pieces contain strong narratives with familiar themes, but break away from rationality in order to tell them: A derailed train and its animal passengers celebrate their newfound freedom from their human masters in "The Serendipitous Wreck". They're finally alone and unbothered in the stillness and solitude of a misty forest (which fades into the natural, unhidden beauty of the panel's wood grain), save for a giant girl who comforts the hurt train. Balloons escape into the sky and a chick has hatched from its shell. In "Going Forth With Apples," a sagely-looking rabbit paddles, a kitten lazilly fishes for flowers, and a girl looks off wistfully into the distance. The title implies some sort of mission in their journey; the apples may be sustenance for their travels, or an important gift for someone else.
Amy Sol chose to create softly-rendered dreamscapes populated by animals and plants and clouds in order to communicate universal themes in a very immediate manner. The viewer could glimpse at "The Serendipitous Wreck" and connect it to their experience quitting a sucky job, or perhaps leaving high school and their parents, or any other event in which they regained their freedom. An illustrator could depict an everyday scene in a modern, realistic environment, but that would have a very limited effect comparatively. In "Going Forth," the girls on a bird-boat in the clouds. Anyone who's traveled could connect with that story, whether their own experience involved a road trip, a plane, or a normal boat.
These are rather eerie pieces. I really like it. The neutral colors work well.The atmospheric perspective in the first one is very interesting. You really get the sense of the narrative in these two pieces, it is quite depressing. However, I really like them.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to see another artist that paints on wood. It seems like the concept behind these works is to simply capture an imaginary moment. Perhaps the surreality of these images is to evoke a memory of our own. Overall, very serene imagery; glad to now know about this artist!
ReplyDeleteLooooove the desaturated palette. With these crisp outlines, soft gradient fills, and abundance of soft curves and circles, these pictures strike all the right chords.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love that you can see the wood in the background, and how the whole piece takes on the tone of the wood. Everything is so dreamy and right on that wonderful stylized edge of realism and imagination. I love the color palettes as well, and while they are all very low saturation their tones vary form piece to piece, giving just enough differentiation between them.
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