Artifacts and Theme
Cultural Artifacts
My first cultural work is "Starry Night," by Vincent Van Gogh. It was created in 1889 during the
Post-Impressionism era in France. Van Gogh was recovering from paranoia and fits in a mental institution during the creation of this work. The painting depicts a little village at the base of rolling hills under a nighttime sky full of stars and a bright moon. My second cultural work is of the painting of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo. The work was painted in the Sistine Chapel in Rome in 1512 during the Renaissance period. It contains over 300 figures with the focal point being God reaching out to Adam.
Common Theme
The theme of both works is how the artists use color and light to bring to life their personal challenges and emotions to connect with their audience. "Starry Night," was created during an emotional time for the artist due to his declining mental health. This, however, helped him create
a night sky which comes to life with swirls and spirals of light and dark paints. The Sistine Chapel painting was created with great spiritual creativity as Michelangelo was very religious and did many works for the Catholic Church.
Personal Experience
I feel connected to both artists and their desire to express themselves through their paintings. Both paintings represent the thoughts and feelings of the artists whether it be spiritual or not. Painting can be an outlet for emotions, and I believe this was the case, especially for Van Gogh who was going through so much. 2
