Visual Analysis La Ventana

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On display in The Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts in Lubbock, Texas is a piece called La Ventana by the artist Alice Leora Briggs created in 2013. This piece is composed of wood cut with chine colle printed on an individual piece of Kitikata paper. The overall obstacle presented is one where man’s limitations can be seen through a physical, an emotional, or a lack of opportunity to interact with his environment. In Leoras piece La Ventana, the main subject matter present is the middle-aged man lying in a fetal position on the ground of an abandoned warehouse. The man is presented as a sad, lonely, or unwell human based on the deeps wrinkles on his forehead, the way his eyes are looking up at the viewer, and the position is body …show more content…

The scale of the man lying on the ground allows the viewer to focus more on the man rather than the plane, bird, or debris because he appears larger. As the viewer of this piece I felt that the use of scale was very important because it allows me to automatically focus on the man and determine his emotional well-being. It is clear that the he looks physically healthy but the expression and his facial countenance make you feel that he has other issues going on. As the viewer, I am also pondering all of the different scenarios as to how and why he ended up here such as drug abuse, mental illness, homelessness, depression, etc. Because of the abundance of chaos surrounding him you feel the man is having to turn his back to the warehouse to try and achieve a since of calm. Although he has many interesting areas to explore, look at, and interact with in his environment his emotional state is limiting his ability to make that happen. The opportunity exists but his will and desire to interact are impaired. The artist also uses lines in various arrangements, directions, and thickness in order to create a sense of contour and atmospheric prospective. The viewer can interpret the man as one who is physically healthy based on the lines drawn on the thighs of the man. I feel like this piece was created by Ventana to invoke a sympathetic response to the viewer in regard to the state of the man and his inability to function

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