Title: Mirror, mirror
Size: 127x101cm
Oil on canvas
Fine Art University project
This painting has taken me 3 weeks working full time to complete. The still life is a true mixture of my occupation tools: motherhood and artist…
My visionary portrait is a reflection of certain powers I possess since childhood…
Please be gentle when you criticize me, bare in mind there are many mature artists showing their wonderful experienced work online while as a young artist I am still learning my own way…
A fascinating picture! A juxtaposition of two differently feeling women, perhaps like the two different women in your two windmill pictures. I will spend the day thinking about your picture. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Although the title says mirror, to me the framed portrait reads like a picture of an older woman, probably an ancestor or other relative because of the resemblance. So I’m thinking this is someone deeply important to you that may see when you look at yourself in a mirror.
The triangle of pairs of eyes suggest this connection carries through to the child, and maybe the three-candle candelabra, with candles on three levels, could be seen in relation to this. As an artist you have a special way of seeing that you communicate in painting, symbolized by the eye in your hand. The horse, apple, leaf, and wine I take to represent important themes for you, which are interesting to speculate on, though perhaps I’m already going too far. Anyway, this will be an interesting exercise in light of recent conversations on this blog about communication through art. Maybe I have it all wrong! But I really enjoyed looking at and thinking about your picture, anyway. I think the muted colors and “simple” style encourage that by not drawing too much attention to themselves.
I see three generations of one family represented. I wouldn’t have associated the frame on the wall with a mirror.
The painting is full of symbolism that doesn’t mean much to me.
Your: My visionary portrait is a reflection of certain powers I possess since childhood… doesn’t help me much either.
There is no story here that fits with my story. I conclude that I am the wrong audience for this work.
Angela, I think it’s a very compelling image, and have no suggestions for any changes to the painting itself. I would suggest changing the title, since the picture on the wall reads more as a painting-within-a-painting than a mirror. Also, I’d suggest not labeling it as a school project. Let it stand on its own.
You may already be familiar with these artists, but if not you might want to check out the work of Frida Kahlo and Gregory Gillespie. Kindred spirits.
I’m having trouble understanding how people fail to immediately see a mirror. The young woman inside the frame is obviously the same individual standing besides it. (Angela, I take this to be a self-portrait). She has the same face, hair and clothing. Only the expression and background are different. I take it that that is because the mirror is magical, and shows things that are not ordinarily visible. Sure, it could be a painting as well. But Mirror seems to be more about looking (all those eyes), than painting; the brushes on the lower right seems more like props than tools.
Angela, your work isn’t really to my taste either. Still, this is a much stronger piece that Eclipse.
Well it could be taken as a mirror if we allow artistic license for the optically impossible — which we do. But aside from the different color clothing, the slight frown in the “mirror” rather than slight smile, and the wrinkles, there are still what I took to represent ghosts of earlier ancestors — the gray features between the two heads. Sure, this may be largely a meaning I’m constructing for myself, but I think the picture supports it.
I think the framed image is ambiguous; it could be either a mirror or a picture (or both). Still, I thought of the former before I did the latter. And if it is a picture, than it resembles the woman too much to be an ancestor. It could be a twin or a doppelganger.
The warmer color of the clothing in the mirror is recognizable as a distortion of the girl’s purple top. Its the same outfit. Her “wrinkles” are actually (so to speak) a furrowed brow. Her expression is different because thats what magic mirrors do. The same goes for the gray background, which resembles a chalkboard.
Also note that the framed image is matched on the other side by a window.
All good points. It will be interesting to read what Angela says later.
Of course, I probably saw the word “mirror” before coming to my interpretation.
If you put a mirror behind a person that’s facing you, you’re probably going to see the back of their head. I’m all for artistic license, but without the title I’d read it as a self-portrait hanging on the wall. The brushes on the table seem to support that impression. Even though the title says “mirror”, visually I read it as “painting”.
The framed image isn’t on the wall, its floating in the air. Its front could be in front of the woman, or at least besides her. The reflection is still “wrong”, but does have some intuitive plausibilty. Furthermore, nothing about its size, form, or texture marks it as a painting. It is continuous with the reality of Mirror, an impression heightened by the symmetry of the two faces.
Also, the brushes are clearly not being used. They’re symbolic props, just like the horse and the wine glass.
Thank you everybody for commenting…
I painted this at the studio from life using mirror and still life.
The mirror I was looking at was hanged with another easel, so I painted myself next to the mirror and I tried to paint my frown reflection looking at myself. Complicated (scratching my own head)…
So Arthur Whitman was right the mirror is floating, I didn’t paint the easel that was holding the mirror up, I thought it would be interesting without.
If anybody wants to see it as a painting within a painting is also fine, I think its an exciting idea too…
Angela, it was immediately obvious to me that the mirror is a mirror. Would it seem obvious if I had not seen the title? I don’t know.
I would divide the painting into two zones. One zone contains the table and standing figure. The second zone contains the wall, the chair, the mirror, and the window.
The first zone is fantastic. It is a visual feast. The second zone is weaker in comparison (the landscape outside the window being the exception, I like it a lot).
Let’s talk about the background zone.
Is the wall seen straight on (as the window frame suggests) or at a slight diagonal (as the mirror suggests)?
The mirror does not convincingly hang on the wall. Why should there be such deep shadow in the corner behind the candles, but not on the frame of the mirror?
The image in the mirror is too similar in optical characteristics (color, contrast) to the “real” figure. It could also be an open window with someone looking in. Obviously it does not reflect as a real mirror does, but this is your point. The Flemish Primitive painters were fond of using a spherical mirror in their pictures. The spherical mirror would never be confused for a window or painting.
As for the foreground zone, I love it. The placement of the objects is fascinating. I especially like your rendering of the cloth, the way each piece has its own flow. The colors are also wonderful. The harmony is subtly unsettling, which fits with the theme of the painting. The colors are robust without being garish. Impressive.
Angela, this is an extremely ambitious piece. Given the complexity of the composition, and the potential for things to go wrong, I think you have done a remarkable job so far.
dear Angela ,
I find it an absolutely wonderfull painting. I would want to see it in real . I think you are a great artist and I am very very curious to see more and how you are going to develope!
Angela one of the things I always enjoy so much about your work is the details that you might miss if you didn’t looks close. In the mirror is that ghostly faces i see? I can’t seem to make this image bigger so I can study it closer, just curious. I like this because it makes me think of the struggles within ourselves to deal with daily life… have a good day.
Here’s what I love about this work…
I’ve come back to this site to look at this painting half a dozen times today. Each time, I think “this is the time I’m going to comment”.
And each time I’ve taken a look, I get lost in time while I’m looking. Each time, I look for a few minutes, and before I know it, I’m finding new details and marveling at new things. It’s just mesmerizing.
And all day long, when I’ve been working on other things, thoughts about this painting keep popping into my head.
By the standards I use, that’s an unqualified success. What a wonderful painting!
I feel like Oliver Twist… “I’d like more, please.”
Angela – as an artist and a mother I can relate to this painting on a very personal level. While my meanings are probably not the same as yours (based on your statement on your blog) I read a lot into it that applies to my situation also and like it very much.
I copy Paul;
The picture is mesmerizing and remained in my mind. What a wonderful painting!
Angela,
This is a wonderfully loaded image, full of psychological ambivalence is how I read it. And the style reminds me of Diego Rivera. I respond to the little “still life” on the table almost more than the figure. But I find the difference between the two versions of her intriguing. I want to gently question your use of the eye in the hand, as it is a somewhat well worn image/symbol from several Asian and Latin American cultures. Are we to read it literally or does it have more personal meaning to you? If you don’t want to say, that’s okay too. I am just curious what it means to you here and of course when you say something tantalizing about special powers, I want more information!!
Angela,
I had a very interesting reaction to this painting. I wanted to touch it. I wanted to see if the paint felt the way it looked.
While I love all the little things on the table, I’m very curious about the images of faces in the mirror. Una shamana?
Thanks everybody for your comments… for the ones who have questions my answer is: just have to sit back and wait where it goes…Cheers everyone!
Angela,
The first night, after I had looked at your picture during the day, I had an image about the woman in the mirror. I saw a mossy green place with stuff hanging down like green cobwebs and inside an older magical woman. I felt that there is a lot of pain to heal.
Love, Birgit
Wow. Love the painting. I was actually thinking of doing somthing similar, i have my mock gcse tomorrow and seeing this really reassured me. I think it gave me a sense of what the person was thnking and feeling. What you see isn’t what it really seems-in terms of feelings. I think it looks brill.