Threshold, 2006

Media: Oil on Wood
Size: 25 x 25 inches
Provenance: The Artist

My work began as an image of a home—of a
dark doorway in an old red wall, which to me
seemed deeply comforting but frightening as
well. Through the process of its creation, it
was changed and simplified, stripped to the
bare essence of three elements: a passage, a
wall and a shadow that connects them. Many
works done by individuals living with mental
illness—professional and amateur artists
(some of whom I know) deal with different
representations of home and family; many
seem to involve black and red colors. These
two colors are the most opposite ends of the
immediate emotional reaction spectrum. Black
is the receding color of the void, sorrow and
fear, while Red projects forward and
overtakes the space, filling it with a sense of
potential anger and violence. Threshold is
about being able to step aside from one’s own
mind and look at it with clarity, see its traps
and obstacles clearly, and make decisions
free of fear or rage.


Maya Kulenovic (Canada)