Look, Look Again: Web of Life, John Biggers
What initially drew me to this painting was the actual length compared to the width. It was more of a rectangular shape, a particularly long one at that, compared to the other square framed paintings. The second aspect of the painting itself that struck me was the center, a breast-feeding woman. She appeared to be the main focus of the painting, the other facets branching off of her. She also seemed to act as a divider between the left and right sides of the art, which were as different as could be. The contrast between the sides was clear, but the number of factors that contributed to this contrast was more hidden. The left side portrayed a winter night, characterized by cooler colors and a melancholy aura. It also showed women, standing in a strict formation, carrying what appears to be baskets of crops. The right side, on the other hand, was completely different in both these aspects. It displays a spring day, fruitful with life such as the fish and flowering trees. Rather than women, the right side depicted men engaging in agricultural work, in a more scattered fashion. Taking note of all this, I began to attempt to piece the art together in order to understand how these features connected.
Because the piece is titled “Web of Life,” I assumed Biggers was showing viewers a prevalent interconnectedness in life. The men on the right side of the painting could be sowing seeds, as growers do in spring, and thereby introducing life- literally, through plants growing or metaphorically, through crops used as food. The women on the left side, however, could be harvesting what had been grown, returning the land to its barren state. I believe the winter and spring scenes contributed to implying that the right side of the painting symbolized growth and the left side represented death. The woman breast-feeding in the center of the painting is shown underneath the ground, possibly showing how once people are born, they factor into the system of life and death.
