Petroglyphs of Consciousness

Over the years, as I explored myriad motifs, mediums, and methods, I gained an appreciation of how the mind processes sense impressions, how it then expresses those impressions into sense mediums and the innate filters of consciousness which manifest themselves in those expression. From the earliest drawings on cave walls, to paintings enshrined in the Louvre, something of humanity’s ineffable essence is captured.

To illustrate, let us examine the basics of shape. Recently, while searching through some memorabilia, I ran across some sketches that my mother had saved from my days in Kindergarten. They were rudimentary characters of animals which I fashioned from shapes found in safety pins (seen above). Without coaching, my young mind had grasped the correlation that objects can be reduced to basic shapes. Like Picasso’s search for the rudimentary bull, these exercises reveal common motifs within the mental construct. Interestingly, we seem to universally discern the suggested realities which these primitive shapes represent. From the earliest pictographs to modern phonetic symbols, humans have chosen shape to express significance ascribed in the transom. By these we communicate something curiously common to the human experience. Indeed, why do we innately crop a subject and thereby generate focus? Why do the rules of composition innately express themselves and appeal to our sense of aesthetics? Moreover, how do distorted abstracts express and contain discernible meaning?

Understanding the fundamental language of shape is a useful tool in composition, communication, and even modern logo design. But these are more than aesthetics; this insight gives an artist subtle glimpses into the human condition.