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Studio Q Photography

Exploring Human Behavior and Death Anxiety Through Art
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“Half Animal and Half Symbolic.” 24” x 9” RA-4 direct color photography and acrylic on paper.

Half Animal and Half Symbolic

Quinn Jacobson September 26, 2024

Based on Becker's theories, I'm excited to share my latest artwork, "Half Animal and Half Symbolic." This is a unique blend of direct positive color photography and acrylic painting. Measuring 24" x 9". The image takes you on a visual journey through the contrast and harmony between representational and non-representational art—or biological and symbolic.

The left side features a photograph of a tattooed arm holding golden-yellow dead grass, highlighting intricate tattoos (look close) against a dark background. The right side is an abstract painting with dynamic textures and warm, vibrant tones that evoke movement and intensity. Inspired by themes of existential struggles (death anxiety and terror management theory) via Ernest Becker.

The photograph is a RA-4 Color Reversal Direct Positive print. The abstract painting is acrylic on paper. It's abstractly mimicking the tattoos in the painting. It's a bit of cubism and color theory mixed up in mortality.

“The essence of man is really his paradoxical nature, the fact that he is half animal and half symbolic.”
— Ernest Becker, The Denial of Death
In Abstract Painting, Art & Theory, Color Prints Tags Ernest Becker, Mixed Media, acrylic painting, painterly photographs, half animal and half symbolic
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