The ferns are painted by using real ferns to transfer paint to the canvas. This is an advantage of painting on a more or less life-sized canvas.

Joking aside, I think that the picture is powerful: Adam and Eve bonded via their arms with the intertwined trees on the left further emphasizing the bonding.

Eve looks at the reality why Adam absent, thinking of something.

To be psychological, one could say that the female in the artist is the practical, ready to deal with any challenge, while the male in the artist is the dreamer.

The yellow behind them is the rising sun, symbolizing their energy.

I think that the ferns in the foreground have a special meaning for the artist.

The transparency mentioned by D. could be intended to convey the symbolic meaning of this picture, not really Adam and Eve but the different characters within the artist herself.

Curious.

I like how Eve’s right hand is placed over her thigh, in-between temptation and shame (though the shadow there creates a strange gap). I am also struck by how her left hand-arm seems unmoved by the nudge-push from Adam’s right arm, while his left arm remains limp. Both seem more determined to maintain their pose than commit an act.

Their forward position (cropped near or at the head, his brain) adds to my sense of their awkwardness.

Personally, not being a religious guy, I have always appreciated A&E more for their physicality. I suppose that is why I am a bit baffled by their transparency and general lack of roundness. Skin! If they are to touch, where is the satisfaction of weight?

And as for their gazes, I am struck by their general indifference to one another. They seem more interested in me or what is behind me. I wish I wasn’t distracting them.

I appreciate the off-center composition and especially how it allows your daughter to pose, within. With the slightest gesture, a turn of a raised chin, she reveals her Position.

Angela,

I think you are on to something important here. I was mentally grasping for these words earlier, but I didn’t reach them. Let me talk again about my experience in front of the real painting, that first moment. Part of the shock was that, yes, despite the “primitive style,” the feeling of connection with the Eve figure staring out at me was profound. The style I think had the effect of putting her at a distance, while the gaze and size brought her very close. This tension was part of the power I think.

Leslie,

Adam does seem a bit shady, but perhaps that is the context in the first photo. That is, it might be an art about art issue. On Carina’s website there is a detail of this face alone, in quite a different context. There my interpretation of his gaze is quite different.

Birgit,

Here you have hit on another interesting thing I didn’t notice: artists making self-portraits in the mirror often have this strained “can I paint myself?” look. The Eve self portrait has an entirely different quality. It is more of a meta self-portrait, a psychological self-portrait of the artist I think, than a physical likeness.

Wouldn’t an artist doing a self-portrait look at herself critically, evaluating how the painting looks? But Eve looks a little down on me and in bride looks a little to the left of me.

I love the intertwining and dancing trees next to Eve.

I see Adam’s gaze as a bit shady, like he is up to something!

But what I find most unsettling in that piece is that bright yellow peeking from behind the figures and the greenish tones in their bodies. THe color schemes are surprising adn unique.

To me the paintings not done form photos are more “alive” than the photo portrait. I love the intense look of the father child, but I miss the inventiveness with paint and color of the other ones.

Thanks for sharing your art!