The weight of the world

The painting I want to present you today is “The Weight of the World”. It is an artwork painted by American artist Susan Elliot. So, before describing the picture, I’m going to give you some information about the author. Susan Elliot is one of greatest artists of the 21st century. When people ask her how long she has been drawing, she tells them that she had been born with a pen in her hand. Since she was a kid, she loved painting so much that it became her obsession. In 2008, she discovered an article which said that a true artist should draw what they love. Therefore, she decided to turn her pen on drawing trees. She always tries to give her trees personalities and characters while telling story which are sometimes environmentally based and often humorous. Due to her, trees symbolize the beauty, and the acceptance of change and life.

So, this is the painting. As you can see here, the picture seems dominated by the two cliffs which are found in the two sides. We have an impression that they are swallowing the whole picture. The two cliffs are high, sloping and sharp. In addition, broken and vertical lines evoke the roughness, danger and death. Separates the cliffs is an abyss which is deep, narrow and dark. In the centre, we can see a tree and a global. The old tree grows tottery on the left cliff. It has no leaves; we can only see it branches. The tree is using it dry and dead branches to embrace and enlace the Earth. Like it wants to protect the Earth and rescue it not to fall into the abyss. The Earth seems heavy, it can drop any time. In the background, the sky is gloomy which represents a sinister future. The dark and deep colors of the painting are suggestive of heaviness and oppressiveness.

I think that the painter wants to alert the human about the environment conscious. She wants to tell us that the Earth is in an emergency situation, but the trees will save it. If the human continue to destroy and cut down trees, the Earth will fell down into the abyss and crash. Through this painting, Susan Elliot wants us to preserve the environment.

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