A series of journals written by Louis that are art critiques of the artist Sharlotte's works.

01. Night of the Majestic Cosmos: The Dawn of Dreams & Freedom

Author: Louis Rice

As the opening chapter in this series of criticisms, the work I have selected is Night of the Majestic Cosmos.

This is an iconic work from the famous painter Sharlotte's early life, and is also where the title of this series of notes takes its name.

Just like their other early works, this painting has yet to receive the acclaim and praise it deserves to this day because it has not yet showcased the artist's unique dreamy kaleidoscopic style. I wish to express my deepest regret for this.

Let us first consider the painting itself: Beneath a vast and brilliant starry sky, a black lighthouse symbolizing human civilization and order looks frail and insignificant — like a small boat drifting in a boundless ocean. All it would take is a single storm or a lone tidal wave to completely wipe any trace of its existence from the face of the earth.

And the composition of this image uses exaggerated lines that are perpetually flowing like a spiral. These lines devour everything like frothing waves, spinning, agitating, and upheaving, constructing everything while deconstructing everything.

As for technique, the artist's brushwork at this time was still a little underdeveloped, with a still immature palette. And compared to the dreamy style of later works, it is obviously too “conservative and photo-realistic.” However, from this painting, we can easily glimpse into the artist's reflections on “people” and “the world.”

“When we look up to the stars, what are we looking for?”

Every time we look up and gaze out at the vast and inscrutable universe, we are inevitably faced with our own insignificance. Humans — or rather, all civilizations of intelligent life — are nothing more than a fleeting and fragile candle flame before the unfathomable and mysterious might of nature.

However, in this painting, all phenomena in the world — be it the eternal night sky, the boundless universe, the insignificant lighthouse symbolizing humanity, or the shaft of light beamed out from that lighthouse — are fundamentally just twisted lines randomly doodled by Imaginary Law.

We come from the stars, and are no different to space dust. Everything in the world is ultimately meaningless.

So, in this cold and empty tone, what answer has our painter given us?

Take a look at the mysterious violet tones dotted into the indigo night sky. The constellations are giving off these gentle pale yellow lights. These lights contrast and harmonize with the flame in the lighthouse, so we feel the restless joy of time passing, but also warmth ignited in this cold long night.

Thanks to these colors, those messy and restless lines no longer look cold and ruthless because they are faithful to nature. They still flow — looping back and forth, never stopping — but they emanate a gentle halo due to having been stained by the warmth of human souls, bringing a touch of life to the vast and empty night sky.

Even if reality is nothing more than a dream… Even if the universe was not created for humanity… We still need to pursue the sky that belongs exclusively to ourselves — be it in a painting, or in our dreams.

03. Coastline: Metamorphosis & Rebirth

Author: Louis Rice

In this edition, we will briefly critique the painter's breakout masterpiece: Coastline.

As an important messenger leading the painter into the public eye, the brushstroke techniques in this painting are more mature, and the painter's unique dreamy style has basically taken shape. Numerous interpretations of this piece have been offered up by art critics and academics. Those famed works are familiar to all, so I won't repeat them here. Rather, this author shall continue on the same train of thought as before: An analysis of the artist starting with the work.

I trust that old friends already familiar with me also understand my methods of analysis, but due to the artist's popularity, these essays have recently attracted some attention and following. Because of this, I will share with new readers an outline of my line of thinking at the start of each chapter.

There is a general consensus in academic circles that artworks cannot be equated with their creators. This is a concept verified by countless cultures over the centuries and seems to be an immutable truth. But this author believes that so-called works are ultimately no more than the product of splicing fragments from the creator's subconscious mind — just like dreams and hallucinations which often reflect in detail the deepest desires of the heart, which even the creator remains unaware.

And the more you understand the creator themselves — the environment in which they grew up and their life experiences — the more accurate this process of inference will be. Therefore, on this basis, we will briefly review the topic of the first two notes: In Night of the Majestic Cosmos, we can clearly see the artist's love for art and beauty, the strong desire for freedom, and their reflection and love for humanity.

And in the second painting, the Death of Robin, the artist instead portrays a severely formulaic and solemn yet disheveled funeral to express their weariness and displeasure at the tediousness of boring reality.

Bearing this premise in mind, we may then turn our focus to this famous Coastline. The background of the entire painting is composed of a triad of beach, ocean, and sky. Their borders echo each other diagonally across the canvas between top-left and bottom-right in the shape of the golden ratio. At the same time, from the beach in the bottom-left to the sky in the top-right, spans an arch comprising four clear themes strung together: A molted black snake skin, a white soaring bird, a golden cloud, and a crimson sun.

Based on this author's interpretation, the beach, ocean, and sky respectively represent the material world, the mental world, and aesthetics itself. While the molted snake skin, the soaring bird, cloud, and sun represent the inner ideals of the artist. Burdens of life lie abandoned like a molted old snake skin, while the artist reborn is like a bird freed from the shackles of earth, rushing toward those brilliant clouds symbolizing freedom and spirituality. And the sun, high in its zenith, is the manifestation and embodiment of truth, goodness, and beauty — the goal and desire which the artist eternally longs for.

The artist also makes creative use of color and line. The brushwork for the beach in the painting is solemn and forlorn, while the undulating ocean uses thick and heavy brushes, and the sky uses graceful and light lines. The colors of the four themes are black, white, yellow, and red which correspond to the nigredo, albedo, citrinitas, and rubedo processes in alchemy. Thus, three dimensions are used to symbolize the metamorphosis and rebirth of the artist.

Everyone knows that Coastline was a huge turning point in the artist's life. This thick and heavy work could perhaps be understood as the painter putting everything on the line in coming to Penacony, or it could be understood as the painter being a precocious dark horse that rose up through a single masterpiece. However, in this author's estimation, this point had already been revealed in the artist's work itself — even before this painting was made.

04. Paradise on Earth: When Dreamscape Overlooks Reality

Author: Louis Rice