Carolyn Zacharias McAdams
Burning Time, 2020
Oil on panel
3 x 4 in
$975
Time has often played a part in my work and now, in the current environment, pandemic, death and disorder has heightened my awareness of Time. As this piece was coming to completion (as is always the case), I began considering the title. Burning Time seemed to sum up what I was experiencing, the loss things that kept me “on track”, anxiety filled days that seemed to have no beginning or end, sitting in one place unable to even paint made me feel lost and unattached. The imagery of the beautifully colored birds escaping the flaming earth gave voice to my inner turmoil and chaos. The “watching” cat in the foreground and the small birds picking at the bones that remained in the wasteland, became metaphors for me as a bystander, unable to do more than simply observe the carnage and accept what remains in the aftermath. With these things in mind, it made sense that the title could be read as both “wasting/burning time” and “a time when everything burned”.