Everyone else has more eloquent comments but when I saw this image i pretty much instantly started crying so… it creates a visceral reaction in me as someone living with trauma and depression.
Feelings of stuck-ness in the blue depths. It's interesting because the whale should be at home in the depths, but the entanglement (good word from others' comments) makes it all seem hostile instead
The whole ocean, represents wide-open freedom. The tangles represent the limitations we impose on ourselves that we "think" are there...but they're really not.
Interesting - i wasn't quite sure what to think or feel at first, which is almost better because I had to think about it, which can be more rewarding than being told what to think. (At the same time, i was kinda relieved when you asked for thoughts and interpretations on this one. Glad i hadn't missed something obvious. ) But contrary to many here, although their interpretation of the brain/net makes a lot of sense, i didn't perceive the net as being restrictive to a whale of that relative size. Probably totally wrong on that. But i felt a sense of anticipation and almost excitement of what that whale will do when it breaches. Which is extra weird since I'm normally a pessimist... So now I'm crying too.
I probably shouldn't have read the comments before contributing, but I saw the whale, entangled by the rope, which was in the shape of a brain. I didn't immediately gather that the whale might be trying to surface while stuck in the entanglement of the brain, but I was somewhere on that path of the whale trapped in the brain.
When I saw the first version of the image at the top of the article, I only saw the upper 2/3 of the whale and winced knowing a whale that entangled would die, and thought why is this image of the ocean here, knowing this kind of lethal entanglement DOES happen due to human/our pollution in the seas.
I did not even see the brain shape until after the text. For me, the realism of the whale contrasts with the looseness of the brain such that my mind ignores the squiggle, and only sees the whale.
I wonder what would happen if the two were stylistically reversed - if the whale were more abstract and the brain silhouette were more realistic. I don’t know that one or the other is more aligned with your purpose, I am just wondering.
Something big is caught in the tangled net of my brain.
I’m struggling to get free of these thoughts but even so, they tighten and persist.
In real life, I find the quickest way is to praise God, (maybe many times daily) then the net holding me down can loosen and let me be free of whatever negative thoughts and energy are drowning me.
You are creating beautiful images, thank you for your art!
At this point I would be calling on Mary, Untier of Knots. When my body, mind or heart is knotted I call on her, to massage me back to health.
Holy crap! Visceral! I can't breathe, I am hyperventilating and I am tied in knots. Literally, my body. Five years ago I had a routine colonoscopy and the doctor said it took longer because my insides were essentially tied in knots. I was going through a time of sadness, loss and depression. It became physical. I have always had a breathing issue since I was very little. I hyperventilate a lot. Now at 71
I am learning how to breathe. You would think it was natural right?
In me this image emerged: me (the whale) being caught up in thoughts, worries, the brain, trying to control life through worries… in contrast me being free to swim, free to breathe, feeling my body and soul too, instead of only my brain and worries, and trusting Life.
This majestic creature wants to swim. To be free. To live in the mystical beauty of the deep blue wonder of the sea! But. It’s entangled, entrapped in what looks like a net, debris, a sad (brain-shaped, obv) struggle holding it back from freedom.
Everyone else has more eloquent comments but when I saw this image i pretty much instantly started crying so… it creates a visceral reaction in me as someone living with trauma and depression.
Feelings of stuck-ness in the blue depths. It's interesting because the whale should be at home in the depths, but the entanglement (good word from others' comments) makes it all seem hostile instead
The whole ocean, represents wide-open freedom. The tangles represent the limitations we impose on ourselves that we "think" are there...but they're really not.
If I move at all, I'll make this worse.
Is the brain tangle keeping the whale from surfacing for a breath?
Grace and possibility can get stuck in our busy minds instead of being free/released.
Interesting - i wasn't quite sure what to think or feel at first, which is almost better because I had to think about it, which can be more rewarding than being told what to think. (At the same time, i was kinda relieved when you asked for thoughts and interpretations on this one. Glad i hadn't missed something obvious. ) But contrary to many here, although their interpretation of the brain/net makes a lot of sense, i didn't perceive the net as being restrictive to a whale of that relative size. Probably totally wrong on that. But i felt a sense of anticipation and almost excitement of what that whale will do when it breaches. Which is extra weird since I'm normally a pessimist... So now I'm crying too.
I am not clear about the meaning of the whale, but I do get how it's tangled in a web in the shape of a brain.
Caught/stuck in a mess of wires/strings. Unable able to move. Not even a proper prison where the prison bars are parallel.
I probably shouldn't have read the comments before contributing, but I saw the whale, entangled by the rope, which was in the shape of a brain. I didn't immediately gather that the whale might be trying to surface while stuck in the entanglement of the brain, but I was somewhere on that path of the whale trapped in the brain.
When I saw the first version of the image at the top of the article, I only saw the upper 2/3 of the whale and winced knowing a whale that entangled would die, and thought why is this image of the ocean here, knowing this kind of lethal entanglement DOES happen due to human/our pollution in the seas.
I did not even see the brain shape until after the text. For me, the realism of the whale contrasts with the looseness of the brain such that my mind ignores the squiggle, and only sees the whale.
I wonder what would happen if the two were stylistically reversed - if the whale were more abstract and the brain silhouette were more realistic. I don’t know that one or the other is more aligned with your purpose, I am just wondering.
Something big is caught in the tangled net of my brain.
I’m struggling to get free of these thoughts but even so, they tighten and persist.
In real life, I find the quickest way is to praise God, (maybe many times daily) then the net holding me down can loosen and let me be free of whatever negative thoughts and energy are drowning me.
You are creating beautiful images, thank you for your art!
At this point I would be calling on Mary, Untier of Knots. When my body, mind or heart is knotted I call on her, to massage me back to health.
Holy crap! Visceral! I can't breathe, I am hyperventilating and I am tied in knots. Literally, my body. Five years ago I had a routine colonoscopy and the doctor said it took longer because my insides were essentially tied in knots. I was going through a time of sadness, loss and depression. It became physical. I have always had a breathing issue since I was very little. I hyperventilate a lot. Now at 71
I am learning how to breathe. You would think it was natural right?
In me this image emerged: me (the whale) being caught up in thoughts, worries, the brain, trying to control life through worries… in contrast me being free to swim, free to breathe, feeling my body and soul too, instead of only my brain and worries, and trusting Life.
Without reading others’ comments first:
This majestic creature wants to swim. To be free. To live in the mystical beauty of the deep blue wonder of the sea! But. It’s entangled, entrapped in what looks like a net, debris, a sad (brain-shaped, obv) struggle holding it back from freedom.
I’m trying to come up for air (frolic in the waves) but my thought patterns won’t let me.