Eyes and Hearts

Spying Lens is an artwork done by Lucia Hartini in 1989. In the foreground, there is a woman curled in a fetal position and enveloped in silky azure blue cloth. in front of her, there is a diagonal brick wall that is half-broken. Below her is what seems to be a cracked stone ground, and it can be seen that she is floating in midair. The cloth that wraps around her floats, drifts and twirls throughout the painting, over the zig-zag walls that continue from the foreground all the way into the background where it vanishes, seeming to imply that it continues on forever into the horizon. In the mid ground and background, a gloomy dark blue ultramarine sky can be seen, with red tinted clouds drifting around the walls and turning into white mist and it seeps into the walls towards the woman. Disembodied eyes with emitting light beams from their pupils can also be seen floating around the woman, watching her as she sleeps. 

The entire painting is painted rather realistically, in the sense that the woman looks like a real woman, the cloth looks real, the brick wall looks real, and even the disembodied eyes look like real eyes (albeit eyes from some horror movie). The brushstrokes are fine and carefully blended to appear invisible, and the painting isn't abstract in terms of composition, with appropriate shadows painted to give the painting some three-dimensionality. In the painting, the zig-zagging walls that recede into the background gives the painting a sense of space perspective.  The soft flowy edges of the blue cloth contrasts with the hard angular edges of said brick walls. However, the colors she used seem somewhat arbitrary, with an intense color scheme comprising mostly of blue, red and orange.  coupled with the realistic way she has painted the painting, the painting seems suite surreal and reminiscent of a dream (not a very pleasant one, it seems.) 

In this painting, Lucia Hartini has used Symbolism to subtly express her emotions and thoughts through her painting. The woman in the painting seem to represent herself, trapped in a vulnerable position with the zig-zagging brick walls representing the rules of her society confining her. The eyes that can be seen floating about, watching the woman in the painting creepily, represent the watchful and scrutinizing gaze of her society on her behavior and actions. In the background, the bleak and dark sky reflects the artist's outlook on her life, while it could also mean a distant freedom out of reach. 

Below is another painting, this one done by Frida Kahlo:

This artwork is called The Two Fridas, done in 1939, after her divorce with Diego. This artwork is believed to be an expression of Frida's feelings at the time. The first Frida depicts her heartbroken self, the Frida that Diego no longer loves, with the ripped bodice of the rejected Frida exposes a broken, damaged heart. The surgical pincers held by the unwanted Frida staunches the blood flow of the open vein that could possibly be the vein representing her ties to Diego. In this sense, it can be seen that she has tried to sever these emotional ties. Blood drips onto her crisp white European dress, a possible reminder of her abortions, miscarriages and many surgeries, as well as the physical pain felt at the loss of Diego. The second Frida is the Frida that Diego still loves and is dressed in clean traditional Mexican clothes. In her lap, she holds a miniature portrait of Diego. This Frida has her heart superimposed on her chest which appears whole and healthy, unlike the heart of the other Frida. The two hearts are linked by a blood vessel, representing the link between Frida's two selves, and the background is gloomy with ominous clouds. This could also suggest at the dark atmosphere around Frida's life after her divorce.

Like Lucia Hartini's Spying Lens, this artwork also seems surrealistic and makes use of Symbolism. Both artists use symbols in their artworks to convey their feelings into their canvas and both artworks are rather negative. Spying Lens' main message is of Lucia Hartini's trapped position in her society while The Two Fridas main message is of her divorce. The symbols used in both artworks are also slightly similar, as Lucia Hartini used eyes to represent the watchful gaze of the society while Frida Kahlo used hearts (another organ) to represent her love. These two symbols are also more obvious and direct and viewers can understand the artworks and the artists through these symbols. Both artworks also have compositions with a dark sky in the background to emphasize on the bleakness of the artists' situation.

On a side note: I chose The Two Fridas because, as some of you may know by now, I like this sort of morbid stuff. It is evident in my pineapple drawings too. And my caesar salad.