The Anomalistic, Oxymoronic Power of a Subtle Image
I believe that certain imagery can constitute almost a self-contradictory, anomalistic and oxymoronic phenomenon; that which we see and have seen in the physical, "real" world throughout our lifetimes, obviously becomes a sort of baseline of expectation and presupposition as to the way things are.
Art historian, Kennet Clark said of the artist, Leonardo da Vinci, "Leonardo would never have painted a flower that had six petals … with just five … not because, in Leonardo's thinking, it wouldn't look right … rather because it wouldn't work right!"
We assimilate from our empirical observations, they way things "are" and ultimately, the way things consequently "ought to be." In my opinion, that phenomenon is a metaphorical "doorway" that opens into the world of ART … and since I believe those who, when entering that world, carry with them all of their reality-borne presuppositions … certain ART can initially stun them by being simultaneously "real" and "unreal".
And when that occurs, among other things, encountering something visually "subtle," because it defies the viewer's expectations regarding "the way things are in reality," that subtlety is powerful … a presupposition is challenged … and the artist and viewer connect in ways that comprise a whole other neighborhood of in that place called "REALITY".
My two cents … and just below, what I believe is my subtle but powerful image. Do feel free to agree or disagree.
© A. Mac/A.G.
In this image, the anomaly comes with the drop shadow under the butterfly … overall, the design is a kind of abstraction/amalgamation … a completely abstract background overlaid with a representational/realistic Swallowtail Butterfly image. The drop shadow connects the "real" with the abstract as if all exists in one dimension … but our expectations, founded in the empiricism of our experiences in the physical world, simultaneously "accept" the ART while understanding the real-unreal anomaly.
© A. Mac/A.G.
The beauty of form is wholly independent of color.
Again, my two cents.
Also texture, IMO
And for old guys whose vision is failing and whose computer is dying, stressful, but it could make restful understated wallpaper.
Interesting and I do like it.
Posted a second image … I would be interested in what anyone thinks regarding the caption/explanation below the image.
Feel free to disagree/debate the premise of that explanation (or, of course, to agree).