Nightwood Bloom
Artist
John Rappleye
(b. 1967)
Date2007
MediumAcrylic and spray enamel on paper
Dimensions42 1/2 x 87 1/8
ClassificationsMixed Media
Credit LinePaul W. Zimmerman Purchase Fund
Object number2010.65
DescriptionJohn Rappleye's paintings evoke the worlds of fairy tales, mythology, and folklore. He recycles the same animals-deer, rabbits, owls and birds-from one painting to the next. Rappleye's paintings can be interpreted as dreamscapes populated by those nonsensical works of imagination that haunt one's nights and days. One theory on the purpose of dreams is that they are the human brain's method of processing the day's events. When one considers that American culture is image-saturated, it is no wonder that such imagery might make its way into a person's dreams. In the same way, Rappleye's recycled images reappear over and over again in his landscapes and suggest themes of hybridization, the destruction of nature and the fall of natural order.
When looking closer at "Nightwood Bloom" the viewer realizes that the animals are depicted in black and white while the landscape, tree blossoms, and some of the deer antlers are rendered in color. The animals interact in various ways, yet the relationship between them is unclear. While it is possible that they are all living in harmony, it is also suggested that the animals have begun to turn on one another in this post-apocalyptic dreamscape.
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