This painting is named The Harmony of Nightmares' because the entire scene is composed to reflect nightmares that I have. The entire painting is done in monochrome with the color Prussian blue, which gives this painting its depressing look and resemblance to a horror scene. The colour blue is also something that affected my mindset. It made me feel the pain more and more as I kept looking at the blue-filled 7 foot canvas.
I started the painting in the middle of the COVID-19 when my family faced a few deaths due to the pandemic and I visited the local hospital, which was filled with recently dead bodies of the people of my city, many of whom I knew. I decided to depict the scene of the people looking at their loved ones dead faces for the first time and their pain their anguish. But as months passed and I kept working on this piece, which is the largest I have attempted till date. All the deaths and suicides of my loved once kept haunting me like nightmares. This is how the narrative changed to shown my inner world like the hospital filled with deaths and anguish.
In the composition I deliberately did not add any eyes for any of the other figures. Only the largest figure in the left side is shown with an open eye because it is a self portrait and I am witnessing the scene. My figure is looking in the right direction which is mirrored by a skeleton with its skull cracked as if I am looking into my future and contemplating that this is going to be my ultimate fate. All the figures show my pain and depression and therefore made with expressive forms.
Comments