Caught in the Crossfire

One invaluable element in my creative process is the ongoing development of a personal visual language. This language is comprised of a unique group of forms that I create or select because they support and reflect my overall artistic ideas. I utilize the language by arranging or combining the forms in different ways, and by merging them with other artistic elements like color, tone, texture, technique, and materials. In my work I have found that this language of forms is not static. It continuingly changes with new forms being added, and old ones being periodically set aside because they do not support the creative effort currently at hand. This process assures the diversity, vitality and renewal of the work.

In Caught in the Crossfire I have used old, previously explored forms, as well as a few new ones. The old ones include, fire, a portal or window, endless knots, an infant, arrows, and interestingly the overall composition. The new ones include a skeleton, sections of cloth with images of body parts, and a few other details like the smoke trails, flames and tassels on the arrows.

Fire is one of the forms I have used many times before. I use it because it is a basic element like water, air, and earth and thereby is a universal form. I also use it because it has the flexibility to represent different things. In the past I have used it to represent purification and consumption, but in Caught in the Crossfire it represents protection. In the painting fire surrounds and protects the sanctity of the center and its contents from the onslaught of the arrows without destroying the center contents.

The center also contains other forms I have used in the past. Prominent among them is a window constructed of an endless knot. To me the circular endless knot represents the endless cycle of life, and being a window, allows a view to a different and peaceful transcendent space beyond. Also within the window is a second smaller endless knot that contains and protects an infant. The infant is positioned at the figure's abdomen indicating her pregnancy and as such represents the universal symbol of a mother and child as well as being a symbol of rebirth.

The arrows, which I have also used before, dominate the canvas. They represent war and are a threat to the mother and infant who are caught in their crossfire. In this universal battle the flaming death-gray colored arrows streak across the canvas from left to right, while the blood-red ones fly counter to them, traveling from right to left.

The skeleton form of the mother on the other hand is new to my work. I see it as a representation of death, serving as a contrast to the life-affirming presence of the infant and the life-like rendering of head, hands, and feet of the mother, both of which represent the renewal of life.

The overall effect of this combination of forms creates a magical unworldly scene. The forms are not grounded to the earth. Everything floats in a glowing amorphous space - the skeleton figure of the mother, with her head, feet, and hands on sections of cloth, float in space, as does her infant, who floats in a protected and sheltered transcendent space.

Lastly, as I mentioned above, I have used the basic composition before, specifically the same figure pose. This can be seen in three previous paintings, Light of the Dead (2002), Cleansing the Invisible Man (2005), and Resurrection (2007/2011). The pose is meant to express a state of openness and acceptance - a state of grace. In Caught in the Crossfire this sense of grace is heightened by the inclusion of the mother and child image. To me they represent the profound suffering innocent victims endure during and after the endless wars that have afflicted humanity.

- Brian Mains, April 2021