Look Elsewhere, Orlando. The What.

The newest piece is one of my recent favorites as well as one of the most emotionally meaningful pieces I've done in a while...

Inspired by the recent death of a friend, the piece represents a person stuck on something, unable to quite unlock their gaze, no matter what that means to their future, the people around them, and, ultimately, their lives.

The friend died after a long struggle, and that struggle is represented by the "star" object in the upper right. A rather abstract symbol, it is meant to appear as a glare...a shiny object...something distracting without much substance.

The cat, a reference to the friend's name as well as a reference to the cultural symbolism of cat as stoic, silent, mysterious guardians, stands as the subject of the piece...currently distracted by the star.

Why is such a powerful symbol distracted so completely by a small object? So completely that the subject seems to be unnaturally distorted, off-balance, looking backward, and vulnerable? What is this object...what is it in this object that has taken the attention of such a guardian so completely?

The world surrounding the subject is an abstract blue with marks, textures and variations subtly emerging through the haze, but the subjects gaze is directed solely at the star. The environment, or lack-there-of, and the total lack of interaction with that which surrounds it display the agonizing isolation of addiction...

Lastly, we have the title. Look Elsewhere, Orlando recalls the site of the place he had moved...but more is meant as a message of "move on" or "move forward"...don't dwell on this small part of life...don't remember him for the pain being felt now.  The phrase"Look Elsewhere" begs the subject to break their gaze and return to the world...but the unchanging nature of paint stands as a permanent reminder of that now realized and tragic impossibility.

The piece stands boldly and brightly, attracting the viewer while simultaneously presenting a dark situation...but the title looks for improvement...looks toward the future and stands as a brief moment of hope. We can look elsewhere...whether breaking from our own addiction or moving forward from a tragic event...the "current" does not need to be permanent...but to change it requires action...and that action must come from you.