Straight Down the Middle
Acrylic on Canvas
(40″x36″)
Before starting my painting I closed my eyes. Eyes closed I open them slowly only to realize that I am pointing in a direction that I had imagined…..but not. The direction is just a little different.
But why?
It is a variation on what I had imagined, making it challenging and strange at the same time. Why is it that things don’t quite manifest perfectly as imagined? …..it’s like living with “Frankenstein” creations.
Because of these odd little realities, the direction I find myself on, is often on a partially familiar path cutting right down the middle of life. As I go down the middle I look to the left and to the right at what is on either side of me, seeking comfort in something recognizable, yet what I find is simply a feeling of pure exposure. Not having anything to hang onto. Not daunted I proceed down the middle. All the while asking myself —Is there something to hold on too? Where could I get a grip or a foot hold? While one may think that I would have feelings of being alone, that is not the case . What I do register is a sense that I am in uncharted waters and that there is no choice but to move forward.
Often being right smack dab in the middle means no railings to hold onto, no trees or rocks to prop you up.
Do you feel exposed or off-balance in the middle?
How does being right in the “middle” of things makes you feel?
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About ginette denault
Ginette DeNault is a third-generation Albertan born and raised in Calgary where she currently resides with her husband and two children.
DeNault works with ease in many mediums but is most intrigued by acrylic paints and soft pastels in their many combinations. Her visions range from melancholic to whimsical revealing subtle social truths that lie at the root of all daily life.
DeNault obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Calgary in 1993.
DeNault’s work proposes to engage the viewer into a state of seeing the world one way while providing hidden cues that trigger the mind into seeing the complement to that which is outwardly represented. Extracted from the minds of the viewer are the memories or observations when their matter (mind) mingles with matter (artwork). The images created for the viewer having now entered into the physical realm of the mind the previous qualities of the work vanish and the hidden cues fill the contents of the memory or experience therein the painting.
Like a magician she creates an illusion that has the viewer believing in virtual realities while providing a starting point that is in the material realm of reality, which is familiar to all people. The realities that she layers into her works are ones that seek to address themes that explore the eternal conflicts in the human condition, like those between men and women, self and society, parent and child, sibling and sibling, friend and friend.
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