Justine+Connection+1

The four paintings I chose for this exhibit collectively represent my perception of the //Grapes of Wrath.// Both the Pollock and the Marden remind me of the struggle of many Americans during the 1930s. In both paintings. the lines that comprise the underlying structure of the painting seem distinct and isolated because of subtle differences in strength of stroke, darkness, and size; yet they all seem interconnected. They share the same canvas just as Americans share the same country. The preacher's idea that we all are interconnected, and that each individual, when joined to others, makes a larger whole is present in both paintings. The writhing lines seem anguished and in a state of turmoil as I imagined the distraught migrant families of the dust bowl were in theri struggle for survival. If you look at both paintings from a distance, it seems as if you were gazing on the parched, dusty, American soil of the Depression era with an aerial view of thousands of frantic families migrating. I chose the Marden and Pollock paintings because they are conceptually related and follow similar artistic conventions, yet they are unique. Like the migrant families, they share the same story, but each story is inimitable.

The Orange Head by Pollock symbolizes the collective American experience. Colors, anguish, beauty, ugliness, strain, all are characteristics found in the painting. There is no precise definition of what it is supposed to be or why it is the way it is. It just is. Like the American experience, it can be looked at in different ways. Multiple interpretations are equally plausible and comprise the lucid definition of what the painting is and what America is. The painting demonstrates the beauty of individuality.

The drawing of the man is redolent of the preacher in the //Grapes of Wrath//. The man, like the preacher is pensive. He looks contemplative and put together yet wild and uncultivated. There is also a sort of sadness in his eyes. The preacher in the book seems perhaps not sad, but has seen a lot of life and has experienced many things. This sentiment is captured in the painting.