Delilah Nichols

“Jackson Pollock” Assumption @ 0

    I have never liked art because in my opinion, and many others, I am not the best at it. My senior year (after failing to comply to the guidelines of an independent intersession) I was sucked into taking Art. I was upset and decided not to even show up for the first few days. Although I don’t draw or paint the best I still love to look at art and am able to appreciate a good artist. For this reason, I was pleasantly surprised when I found out our class would be taking a trip to the San Diego Museum of Art to see the Gauguin to Warhol exhibit.

    Upon entering the room, I was struck by the wall-sized canvas of bright yellow and red splashes and hidden black faces. “Convergence” by Jackson Pollock. I spent a good twenty minutes examining this particular piece as opposed to the two minutes I spent in front of any of the other paintings, almost like a meditation of sorts. I would occasionally be interrupted by debates behind me of whether or not Pollock’s “Convergence” should be considered art.

    However, I wouldn’t agree with the nay sayers. Pollock’s work dares you to look deeper. There is no clear image in front of you. It’s a crazy cluster of cracked paint and color, but it makes me feel something. When I look at Pollock’s work I don’t feel overwhelmed or trapped by all of the lines of color. It eases my over examining mind, forcing me to take in the whole canvas before I’m even able to focus on one aspect.

The first thing I notice when I begin to dive in is that the paint doesn’t look splattered, it seems meticulously placed and swirled. This also eased my mind. His art is like an onion, so I just stood there peeling back each layer of color, trying to make up my own shapes and words in his canvas.

I want to research Pollock further to figure out if, like his art, he was an onion. How many secrets was he holding onto? Is this why Pollock created drip art, because he had secrets or because of another reason? I’m very curious about his work and how it reflects him and how it began. I wonder what obstacles he faced in his life and how that impacted his work. I’m intrigued by the way he put paint to canvas in such a precise way and what that meant. And I want to know if he was happy because the bright colors and sporadic looking art shows me an outgoing soul and crazy mind.