Beguiling Lore

In this essay I will attempt to analyze the artwork named “Beguiling Lure “ by Isaac Talley , 2009. The medium of this artwork is acrylic and oil on canvas. The composition is simple with the main focus being a dangling object and a portrait of a single bird. The multi coloring of the background is bright and soft with dark and light hues. The artist was able to deliver the paint onto the canvas in different directions and angles which gives the appearance of overlapping colors,roughness and an uneven texture. There is a small horizontal space that has been left blank and untouched in the middle of the canvas that provides a dividing line separating the upper portion of the painting from the lower portion. Even though there is no similarities in the main two subjects in the painting the artist brings balance, proportion and unity to his work by using the same background colors and patterns from top to bottom. The eye is automatically drawn towards two specific areas on the canvas and directly to the middle upper portion of the painting where a circular white object is attached to a dark blue string of yarn that hangs from a peg at the top of the canvas. In the bottom right corner a is a painting of a black bird standing with its back to the viewer as it looks towards the hanging object. I think the painting is a form of expression in which the intention is to give the viewer an increased awareness of how we have become a materialistic society. Because of our increased desire for the better things in life it is easier to allow ourselves to become distracted and lose sight of what is truly important in life. As a society we want to strive to be better in everything we do. In the past our american culture has taught us right from wrong, to love God and country and to stand true to our families. The importance of those morals and values seem to have disappeared.The black bird or raven can be a positive symbol of mankind's desire to be moral and spiritually correct and the white dangling object or the “lure” an example of the opposite, a representation of those material things of the world that distracts us and has the power if we allow it to strip away our true identity and personally values and change our perceptions on life.