In the painting “Calibration”
artist Elizabeth Dabecco uses color in a way that immediately
catches the attention of the viewer. The use of the bright vibrant color palette
contrasted with the cool muted blues within the center of the painting evokes a
feeling of intensity or discomfort.
The composition of this piece is very circular with the
outer area of the painting framing the inner part of the painting. This draws the viewer’s eye to the center of
the painting which appears to be the focus of the painting. The use of line within this painting also
adds to the importance of the center of the composition with outside shapes almost
spiraling in towards the center creating an implied line.
The main focal point of this paining is a very young
boy. He is literally blue, and the
expression on his face implies that he is also emotionally “blue.” This boy seems to be distraught or worried
about something which really stuck me as odd because it is not often that a
child of this age would have this type of look on his face. At this age, most children do not have a care
in the world.
It appears that the text or graffiti surrounding the
child could be the cause of the emotions that this child is feeling. The text is jumbled and unclear as to what it
says. It is made of very bright neon
like colors. It could almost be viewed
as graffiti on a city building. The text
also seems to be surrounding or consuming this child, and could probably be
interpreted as either escaping this child, like bad thoughts, or going into the
child, like bad influences.
The space within this painting is quite ambiguous leaving
the viewer unsure of where this could be taking place, or if it is even taking
place in any specific place. Because the
painting is composed solely of the child and the text surrounding him it seems
that maybe this isn’t necessarily graffiti on a city building, but the text is
standing for something greater than that.
In interpreting this painting, it is clear that it is
loaded with many different symbols, yet is left ambitious enough that it can be
interpreted in many different ways. In
my interpretation, it seems that the text is not just meant to simply be text
or graffiti, but maybe pressures from society, or even home. It could represent his memories from some
type of argument that his parents were having that he overheard. In this case I would interpret the text as
something that the child is trying to escape from or push out of him mind.
I think that the choice of the color within the text
could possibly be a symbol for the bright life and joy that this horrible event
that this text represents has taken away from the child leaving him blue and
dull.
The way that the text has been left illegible could
represent that innocence of a child. It
could symbolize how when something bad happens a child may know that something
bad has occurred, however because of their innocence they are not really sure
what exactly has happened, or the extent of its seriousness.
Overall, I feel that this painting could be suggesting
the emotional toll certain events can have on a child, and how some of these
events can impact their entire life if they are traumatic enough.
Trista Jacob
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