If Our Calculations are Correct

“If Our Calculations are Correct”

Alcohol ink, pen and oil pastel

Size 6” x 6” (17” x 17” framed)

Original artwork - double mounted, framed and strung ready for hanging

As I created this abstract painting, I was listening to the news. I began to imagine the inevitable decline of the human race. I envisioned the very last days of humanity, centuries, maybe millennia from now. By then, resources on Earth would have been consumed. Civilization would collapse and systems would have long since broken down. As we fought over the last resources, anarchy and chaos would reign. Those (un)fortunate enough to survive would retreat once more to the caves in order to subsist as earthquakes and forest fires scorched the land. We might watch as the last rockets take off into outer space, human spacemen risking it all to make one final desperate voyage into the void.

With this in mind, I dragged a chaotic jet of ink across the page. I added orange paint for the scorched earth, gold pastel for the precious elements of our lives. I chose pink for the flesh of our bodies, vulnerable and alive. I scratched and smudged at the marks. Finally I added stickmen in two places, who bear witness to all this: those in the top of the frame, bravely escaping into outer space; those in the bottom left, leaving behind their mark on cave walls.

In this way, this painting becomes both a map and a testimonial for what is precious in our lives: this beautiful earth, our humanity, the eyes and mind to see and contemplate art.