Untitled: A Senior Surreal Photo by Francis Sullivan (2012)

The nice thing about painting Surrealism is that I don't need to draw clear connections and have a concrete story or meaning. I'm free to change the piece as I see fit and let the audience decide what the art means to them. The art is always capable of standing on its own without the need of an Artist's Statement to accompany and explain it. Because of this, I'm only able to offer up some ideas as to what the portrait may be portraying. It could be the Grim Reaper methodically claiming an unwilling soul. It could be an old friend recovering from wounds and bringing warmth and light with him. It could be a fear of trains. It could be completely up to the audience. To make this, I edited and blended several photos together in Photoshop. Many may recognize the character as a modified version The Son of Man, the surrealist painting of a man with an apple where his face should be. The light bulb that replaces his face is two layers stacked on top of each other. One provides the solid components such as the filament and fuse, while another on top provides a glow. The light comes from the head and the center of the background and loses saturation as it gets closer to the edges of the frame. The character's setting and silhouette are designed draw connections to a fast approaching steam train with a headlight and smokestack. I purposely left out the trademark intricacy and complicated nature of Surrealist work because I felt that it would be more effective and dramatic to allow the viewer to focus.