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Saturday, February 20, 2021
Susan’s Stuff: retirement
Detail from painting
By Susan C. Price
i include my notes as commentary.
“retirement,” 2020.64" x 64" end of acrylic,
oil stick, collage on canvas with grommet
As a person who sees retirement as a kind of foreplay to death, I was very intrigued by this painting when I saw it in Susan's place-for-making-art. There is not always a narrative aspect to Susan's work (at least I do not always see it; then again, Susan is very non-judgmental about the countless bizarre things that admirers of her art see in her paintings). But, if any of them tell a story, this one surely does. I remarked to her that this narrative quality reminded me of Chagall: something fantastic and quasi-mythical. Way too many words, I know, but then that's who I am.
I asked another painter, columnist André Duvall’s father, Billy Charles Duvall, for his take on Susan’s painting. Billy Charles wrote:
I sometimes know if I like a painting as soon as I look at it, even if I have no knowledge of its meaning. This applies to Susan's painting. There is something about the total arrangement, color and perspective that speaks to me. I was not sure about the meaning, but after staring at the title a few times and reading her notes, I'm slowly gaining a wonderful appreciation for that also.
I really enjoyed the playfulness of the painting and then the list of retirement worries--let's not forget pension issues, lack of pensions, social security flaws, lack of social security, money woes--hold on, I'm seeing a motif here. Can it be the woman with the hair on fire is asking for a raise in her coast of living expenses? Or is it instead an image of what they say when they state you're just throwing your money down the toilet, or, in this case, into the furnace? Probably not. She must be holding her hand out for assistance in making the world a more equal and understanding place for all humanity. I like that motif better.
As a person who sees retirement as a kind of foreplay to death, I was very intrigued by this painting when I saw it in Susan's place-for-making-art. There is not always a narrative aspect to Susan's work (at least I do not always see it; then again, Susan is very non-judgmental about the countless bizarre things that admirers of her art see in her paintings). But, if any of them tell a story, this one surely does. I remarked to her that this narrative quality reminded me of Chagall: something fantastic and quasi-mythical. Way too many words, I know, but then that's who I am.
ReplyDeleteI asked another painter, columnist André Duvall’s father, Billy Charles Duvall, for his take on Susan’s painting. Billy Charles wrote:
ReplyDeleteI sometimes know if I like a painting as soon as I look at it, even if I have no knowledge of its meaning. This applies to Susan's painting. There is something about the total arrangement, color and perspective that speaks to me. I was not sure about the meaning, but after staring at the title a few times and reading her notes, I'm slowly gaining a wonderful appreciation for that also.
I really enjoyed the playfulness of the painting and then the list of retirement worries--let's not forget pension issues, lack of pensions, social security flaws, lack of social security, money woes--hold on, I'm seeing a motif here. Can it be the woman with the hair on fire is asking for a raise in her coast of living expenses? Or is it instead an image of what they say when they state you're just throwing your money down the toilet, or, in this case, into the furnace? Probably not. She must be holding her hand out for assistance in making the world a more equal and understanding place for all humanity. I like that motif better.
ReplyDelete