Spirit Of The Lake Interpretation Essay

Painting with a Meaning

People have claimed time and time again that a picture is worth a thousand words. These words don’t always slip right off the tongue because the piece may have been created to cause debate, help strive for social justice, is just based on a taboo subject that most people choose to ignore and forget about, or, if it’s abstract art, is created with the intent of inflicting certain thoughts and emotions from a viewer, which is just code for made up of the artist’s lack of creativity and great skill of throwing paint willy nilly onto a canvas. Whatever the topic of the piece is, art can bring forth thousands of ideas and, yes, a thousand words. Full of nature and emotion, “Spirit of the Lake” by the brilliant Audra Auclair is just one painting amongst many that leaves a viewer bursting with ideas and questions. People could talk and debate for hours over the meaning, but it is entirely believable that “Spirit of the Lake” depicts a dark lake that is dying due to pollution and cradling a pale female spirit, who is the keeper of the lake and losing the battle to keep it alive as she slices her own …show more content…
The title, “Spirit of the Lake,” suggests that somehow the woman is in charge of taking care of the lake and keeping it healthy. The water lilies spilling from her wound glow a pale blue, making them, along with a few reflective ripples on the water’s surface, the brightest thing in the painting, and implying the life that is coming from the woman as she attempts to bring life back to the very water she’s a part of. The tadpoles, wandering idly through the water, swim freely and fearlessly around this woman who is very much in their living space. They exhibit no sign of fear towards her, suggesting that she is meant to be there and is around often enough for the marine life to know that she means no harm, will not disturb them in any way, and know that she is in charge of keeping their home safe and