image essay #7

Inka Essenhigh – They came from the sea

I like the simplicity in this painting and the value. This is a painting by Inka Essenhigh which he titled “They Came from the Sea.” I thought this piece to be different from this normal work in that there are no figures of any kind. The piece has a strict grey value scale which does a good job with keeping your attention on the form rather then the color, being that there is no color. The way Inka uses value give the painting a variety of textures and places for your eyes to wonder about. “They Came From the Sea” in assumption probably came after the piece had been made. When looking at the piece I notice that it does look like rocks or something is rising out of a body of water. The extreme value used by Inka with the pure whites and pure blacks help guide the viewers’ eye throughout its entirety. There is also what looks like a bird-type figure in the background, which establishes depth and movement. The lightness of the upper area, to me, portrays a sky while the foggy light grayish area in the right could portray clouds. I believe this is one of his better pieces because it is more unique to his normal style of work.