Sam threw the front door open tonight to exclaim, "Guess what I did at school?! I did the M! I did the S. I did the A. I did the M!" He's been signing his name on his art work for a few months, but that last letter has eluded his talents so far, coming out as something of a stylish squiggle--perhaps suggestive of the signature to come. Today, however, Sam mastered the M. Attached is the evidence of his latest accomplishment, complete with a captioned picture of his Dad & Mom holding hands. Let me deconstruct the genius for you.
The 'MOM' is pretty easy to spot. Check those M's. The symmetry, the sharp angles, the ebb and flow of purplish pressure. A thing of beauty, that first ever MOM to emit from the artist's pen. Now, the 'PAB' to the right of that is "DAD." Scholars and practitioners the world over agree: D's are hard. This is a brilliant effort. Under these bold titles, there are two near circles: his parents' "funny heads" (to quote the artist). Beneath those is a horizontal line of arms, joined by the symbolic slash of two hands. Simple, forceful--a poignant interpretation of connection, significantly clasped over the semiotic symbol of son. As if to balance the composition, the other arms are casually rendered in loose vertical lines. The adjacent series of vertical lines are, of course, legs. Note the artist's exceeding care not to extend PAB's legs into the first letter of the already signed masterpiece, an obvious allusion to a father's protective care of his child. Finally, the chocolate smudges here and there are from leftover ice cream cake. A metaphorical assertion of the artist's childlike trust in his view of the world. Plus, he'd just eaten dessert.
All in all, a delicious little picture.
Brought to you by our S-A-he-did-the-M.
2 comments:
Quite remarkable S-A-and most importantly M! This is quite a milestone.
I really should sit down with my boy and teach him something--he still thinks his name is made of numbers :)
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