Liberty is one of the paintings that I want people to ponder about. I want people to wonder about different clues contained in it and I want them to feel the message I tried to put across.
Sometimes a painting does not have a specific meaning. Sometimes it just makes you feel certain way.
Meaning is always secondary to feeling a certain art piece evokes. Because art is that of heart, not mind.
If a piece of art does not stir anything inside of you, I think it was a waste of time creating it. Once my very very successful artist friend, who ran a busy gallery of his art in a chic part of a large Pacific coast city told me: I'd rather have people hate my art than say "Oh that's nice". He would like people who had guts to say: man I hate your art, makes me feel like shit! Rather than people who'd say: Oh, nice, I like it....(while having a face that told: but kinda not really...).
If you like art, you go "Wooooow, maaaaaan I dig this!" over it. Or you just let your jaw drop and stare at it in silent speechless awe.
We talked about it and I had to agree. Art should move you inside. And "love" and "hate" are not opposites, they are both expressions of a passionate human side. I said it before and I'll say it again: opposite of Love is not Hate.
Opposite of Love is Indifference.
My painting that I named "Liberty" is one of those that I'd love to get people stirred by it. Love it or hate it, it's all the same to me, as far as you give a damn, as far as it caught your attention.
It's plain obvious to most who look at it, and I've seen hundreds of people look at it since I hanged it at my studio two years ago, that it is filled with many encoded messages. I am not writing this blog today to show you all the encoded secrets. No, that would be make the painting way less exciting. But I want to point them out at least, in sections.
So Here We Go!
7 crows circling around an apple of a dead tree? Snake of lies?
Black sheep crossing the abbys full of flames, reluctantly followed by herd a sheep which just fell out of shattered hourglass...
Another Statue of Liberty in front of World Trade Center which is still standing....lightning storm...
Greater view of the city, burning oil rig, the hourglass attached by a golden chain around "Liberty's" neck...
Missiles in place of spikes....when we send you peace, democracy and justice with bombs... pretty self-explanatory....dollar bill signs....and the eye
Guy Fawkes' mask...all seeing eye at the top of the pyramid...5 letters of alphabet highlighted by the tip of a six pointed star.....a podium of a theater perhaps...wheel of dharma and lotus on the opposite side
Crown chakra of Buddha covered by sakuras.....parts made of 24 karat gold leaf
Greater view of the left side of the Divine Play.....number 7....bounteousness....abundance....vitality....spiral....peace
I hope this gives you enough to ponder about! :)
I also used Liberty as a poster motive for one of my exhibitions, which I called accordingly: FACE OFF
And this is it. My Da Vinci code panting. I know I fancy it bit too much, the message might be plain clear for some of you! Liberty is still with me, waiting for the right owner to take it away, and I enjoy looking at it very much, in no rush to see it go.
Thank you for commenting, reading, upvoting and resteeming!
Much Love & Peace,
