1979
|
Pencil on paper 29 x 42 in 73.7 x 106.7 cm Collection of the artist |
"A church nestled in the
far woods suggests the dream of security. The foreground scene
suggests the difficulties that must be faced before that can be
attained. Surls’s alter ego sits on the back of a cow and raises a
pair of wings as the cow walks across a bridge. On the other side of
the bridge another child bears a pair of mirrors emblazoned with
eyes, symbols of internal vision and intuition. Meanwhile, we look
at the scene through a line drawing of another larger figure holding
a hand mirror which reflects back a geometric maze, suggesting an
adherence to reason. Thus the work becomes a narrative about
innocence, experience and painful knowledge. Surls explains that the
cow is generally a female symbol, suggesting here that it is the
force of the female which carries one across the bridge and through
the difficulties of life."
-Eleanor Heartney, from Splendora: A Love Story
in the publication "James Surls: The Splendora Years,
1977-1997."
