Image Essay #8

This is an art piece by Michael Bossom. The caption reads that it is a “hot plate, tissue, and direct wax drawing.” This piece first caught my attention because it reminds me of our symbol project we did in class. The piece shows a wire looking object in the middle of a wood-type background. I chose this piece of artwork to talk about how it is a great example of balance within a piece. The symbol is pretty much centralized on the picture plane making the entire picture seem symmetrical. However, the symbol itself is not symmetrical. This offsets the balance of the picture and makes it more interesting to look at.
What I find most interesting about this artwork is how it keeps the eye moving within the object. The curves and the lines continuously move our eye around the figure in the middle. Even if our eye tries to leaves, the vertical strokes of the background bring our eye’s direction back to the center symbol. This artwork seems so simple yet elegant in its design. I am not sure what the underlying meaning is of the piece but it seems like some sort of struggle possibly of power. I also read it as a sort of barbwire image as if it is holding back something.