This is another new painting that is headed to the Principle Gallery for my new exhibition, Observers, which opens there June 7, two weeks from today. This piece , which I call The Bridge, is 8″ by 18″ on paper. The small bridge between the two masses is a variation on the island theme that has figured prominently in my work recently.
There are probably multiple interpretations for this image. With a single I look I can read it in several different ways but the one that sticks with me is seeing the bridge as that connection between the two poles of our individual selves, that link that both connects and differentiates our opposing forces. The masculine and feminine. Our good and not so good impulses. Maybe even life and death.
In this way it reminds me a bit of the corpus callosum in our brains, the bridge of neural fibers that connects the two hemispheres and transmits information between them. It allows the two sides to function as a single, efficient unit- – well, somewhat efficient on good days– and in some cases when there is a problem on either side where function is impaired allows that function to migrate to the other side .
As my not-so-efficient brain struggles to write this ( and believe me, it is a struggle) I am bombarded by other ways of seeing this piece. I really like that it has a multitude of ways of being seen. I am going to stop and just look at it for a few moments. Have a great day!
Redtree Times 
Reblogged this on #KissedByElectrones.
I don’t know all your work, of course, but I just paged through “In Quiet Places” and skimmed the online images, and I can’t find another painting that has two red trees!
For me, that’s the most striking thing about this painting. It raises the question, “Which is the true Red Tree?” And that, of course, suggests the painting suggests the relationship between our true selves and the self we choose to project to the world. They’re connected, of course – but never perfectly identical.
Well put, as always, Linda.
So many interpretations …one that came to me, Two beautiful,unique separate individual trees connected. Allowing each to remain unique and different while coming together and meeting in the middle, a comfortable,soothing place in the middle(chair) and creating one island while remaining individuals. 🙂 I could see this in a couples bedroom.
That’s a wonderful way of seeing it, Pat. I’m sure many will see it that way.