“Vice and Virtue.” – The First Absolution

In a constant effort to be something of substance, something that moves and thrives and strives through the challenge that showcases around any corner, something that gets back up regardless of how hard the fall or the shortcoming was, no matter how heart-breaking the revelation was, a single, constituted entity. In the scheme of works to be accomplished we often forget what is and instead focus on what is supposed to be. Often in the search of black or white, we forget the presence of grey. Just like, in seeing what the future has yet to give, we often overlook the presence of that which the present has already provided.

Since the beginning of time, human nature has been subject to many ideas, ideologies, and philosophies and one of the most prevalent ones is about the prominence of Vice and Virtue. Whatever and wherever you see there is a certain line differentiating between the black and white, between the right and the wrong, between the good and the evil, be it movies, comics, books, characters, actions, laws, rules, people, institutions, music, art, etc. We have categorized the variety of choice, through the theory of relativity.

It is us who define ourselves. And how we define ourselves, the methodology we take and the scheme of work that we utilize is solely our own choice. I have always believed that often by looking in others we find ourselves. This is how I would like to define myself. But, how one defines oneself is solely up to oneself. Whether we tend to be bound by that which surrounds us, whether we tend to bound ourselves with what we choose to surround ourselves with and whether we choose the uncertainty of diversity. It is completely our own choice, what color we tend to paint in the bigger painting of humanity, how we lay down the stroke and what purpose it is to serve, all in the realm of Vice and Virtue or something far beyond it.

The Creative Process Involved

So, considering this as the first absolution, I had seriously no idea about paintings while entering this realm for the first time. I did not even know the difference between acrylics and oil paints and as a spectator of art I have always been intrigued by the works of Pablo Picasso, an awe-inspiring Spanish painter. This was one of his acclaimed paintings that have been an epitome of abstract art through thick and thin, in the past and even in contemporary art. It is called the “Head of a Woman with Hat” and though there can be a million interpretations of this art piece in the artistic realm, I chose to paint this with a meaning I depict myself, an abstract meaning because this is a piece of abstract art, there is no end to what it can mean.

Pablo Picasso – Picture Credits: www.pablopicasso.org

For me of course, it is more than just “Head of a Woman with Hat” but then again it is about how you think about that title and then how you think about how I interpret this painting myself. It is a matter of relativity, whether you want the colors to represent the edifice of good or the analogy of bad. Whether you want the sunset to depict the ending of a beginning or the beginning of all endings. Whether you want to fall backward or fall forward. Whether you want to be someone who pushes others forward and wait to hold them when they fall, or you want to be someone who pushes others back in their hustle and vanish when they need a wall for support. It is all relative.

The term Vice and Virtue has not only played a vital role in my own life but in fact, I believe it plays an imperative role in everyone’s life because it isn’t a mere argument or differentiation of right and wrong or good and bad, it is the relativity of one’s own thoughts. How at times the eyes of this “Head of a Woman with Hat” looks at me with mercy and kindness and at times makes me terrified enough to not even look at her, but then again it may not be about how she looks at me but in fact, about how I perceive her looking at me. To be honest, she is making me go a little crazy for I often talk to a canvas slathered with paint as if it was more real than talking to a wall but then who would know the difference. I call her, Julian by the way. How and why, don’t ask me.

Photography of the Said Narrative