¶ … Art
Arnold Roche Rabell, "We Have to Dream in Blue"
Arnold Roche Rabell's painting "We Have to Dream in Blue" is a very powerful painting. The oil on canvas is an old medium which painters have used since before the Renaissance. Using a traditional material adds to the quiet power of Rabell's piece. What is immediately striking about the painting is the subjects face for that is what comprises the majority of the space in the artwork. The subject of the painting seems to be a black man or woman, most likely a man because of the narrowness of the face and the unfeminine appearance. At first it seems that this painting is a direct one of a dark-skinned face, but there is texture. The face and the hair are covered in what first looks like fur, but then the green in the hair makes it clear that the coverings are plant materials. The face is covered in red and green plant life. The subject also seems to be standing in front of a lattice of red leaves, some of which are attached to the...
The effect is that the subject is either coming through the natural world in order to invade the space of the person viewing the painting, or that he is in some sort of prison and trapped in the nature along with the audience member. Either way it is unsettling and unpleasant. The most striking thing about this painting and what the eye is drawn to first and most often are the sky blue eyes of the figure at the center. The eyes do not show any obvious emotion. They are not hooded from exhaustion or sadness nor are they lit up with excitement or happiness. Instead, they are resolute eyes; they know something and understand that there is nothing they can do to prevent its happening again. Blue eyes are not traditionally seen in black people and so they seem off in this very dark face. The meaning behind such a painting seems to be about the imposition of the white European culture on those from other ethnic backgrounds and how that imposition affects the people who do not fit into that…
