Hidden

 

    

 

In these two studies by Don Coons, we have a Pathway

(which we view from a Refuge,

which we recognise subconsciously from the foreground shadowing),

a Portal,

and a radiant area beyond,

which is mostly hidden

 – the Secret.

Portals usually have more emotional impact

 if they are also Secrets…

 

 

The pictures have been constructed to make us curious to see the realm beyond the portal.

Here the radiant area is obscured by a vertical element, but it could as well be hidden by the horizon.

As Jay Appleton says….:

 

“This theme of being in one place

and projecting the imagination into another, as yet unattainable …

is a constant feature of romantic art…

The speculative process itself becomes a source of fascination,

the imagined world which it creates a source of pleasure,

and there is nothing in the landscape which so powerfully evokes that fascination

and that pleasure as the horizon. It has been said that the most evocative line

in the English language comes from a nursery rhyme:

Over the hills and far away!”*

 

(*The Symbolism of Habitat, Washington, 1990)

 

      

 

Of course, things may equally be hidden by rain, or shadow, or mist, or snow.

 

Or by a wrapper…

 

 

Or…

they could be obscured by

the frame of the

picture:

 

 

 

But however it is done,

here is the secret of turning on human exploratory behaviour.

This is how we retain attention, in all art forms...

by teasing, with…

the Secret.