personal preference: debra wolf

Joe A MacGown's "Manic Depression"

"Manic Depression" ~~ pen/ink on plywood, 2010

My mind?   

                    .blown.away.

                                                        ~~debra wolf

detail of Manic Depression

Joe A MacGown was mentioned in the very first entry of this relatively new blog; I'd not yet met him at that time.  A couple weeks later, I can say that in the handful of times I've spoken with him since, Joe is exactly as his own blog and the various references elsewhere portray him to be.  On the trippy side.

A few evenings past, I went to Joe's open house at the Mississippi Modern Homestead.  By then, I felt that I'd a pretty good grasp of the "Surreal & Semi~Strange" visual style of the meanderings of Joe's manifestations of mind.  And then I saw this, hanging in the foyer.

My mind?    .blown.away.

There is lots going on, sure.  The piece is engaging, sure.  Highly detailed, sure.

But it's also soothing, restive, and peaceful.

And it is terrifyingly disturbing, revealing the ugly guts most hide away under layers of skin and other appropriately acceptable garb.

It's truly a great representation of Manic Depression, what some know as Bipolar Disorder.  It's accurate in style, with a lingering flavor that fascinates.  Yet I also cringe, almost averting my gaze so that I am not focusing directly for too long; because sometimes intense scrutiny is scary.