LUMEN 5.1 (1999)
Acrylic on Canvas - 30" x 20"
The shape of the opening admitting the glare of light is somewhat like a diagram of an eye, with the circle held by the figure representing the iris. The further one goes outward the greater one can see inward.
https://www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/lumen-51/
#fineart #personalvisions #imaginativerealism #fadedstar #lumen
Close detail from LUMEN 5.1 featuring curving textured wall. Rusty rebar forms a ladder up the curving slope. On the right, the paint of a yellow star chips and weathers. On the left a metal grate weeps lines of rust down the concrete.
Detail from LUMEN 5.1 featuring a man holding a large metal ring as he stands in the eye-shaped opening of an upward curving tunnel.
A low angled view follows the curve of concrete wall up a cavernous toroidal space. The structure at the upper edge of the curve drops off, opening the tunnel to blue sky. The contrast against pale concrete evokes the appearance of the human eye. At the lower center of the opening, a figure in a cloak holds a metal ring, which simultaneously looks like an iris while echoing the artist's sigil (the letters M and W combined inside a circle). Rebar set in concrete forms a ladder up the curving slope, further defined by its rust stained trail. Next to the ladder, a weathered five-pointed star is painted in yellow on the irregularly paneled concrete wall.