MAHC2 - Modern Art Human Constructions 2

It's been a long time since the first MAHC, but this collection shares several of its themes, and, to be honest, unique yet applicable collection titles are becoming harder and harder to find. Like that collection, this one focuses on the things that humans have constructed, and the tools that they use to do so - with a slight emphasis on landscapes. Starting off, Skyscrapers on a Hill is a somewhat abstract presentation of its idea. It makes heavy use of vertical lines, complimenting them with a darker area of the midground that wraps smoothly in a circle towards the top of the image, capping off each tower. The tilted nature of the work emphasizes the hillside, as does the overall diagonal contour going from the top-left to the bottom-right. Similarly, Angled Kilter portrays an area of sparse human construction, from a distance, and at somewhat of a tilt. Lights shine up from behind the hills, fading into the sky before reaching the top of the image, thus providing some evidence of human involvement here. But the bleak color of the background and the strange orientation of the lights leaves some room for concern. My Framework is an interesting case, being a unique red-pink color and having very little distinct structure despite being filled with the horizontal and vertical line motifs that are usually used to construct that. But a creature - "me" - in the lower left directs those things, creating a foundation amidst all this feeling, building around it and through it as necessary. Metaphorical Islands is the most abstract work in this collection, by far, a collection of rough, grainy islands of light amidst a sea of darkness. No part of this work is literal in any sense, hence the 'metaphorical' part of its title; however, metaphors too are a thing constructed, and there is evidence of human construction in this image, from the cracks in the sides to the contours of the islands themselves, and the color being pushed into them. But my personal favorite work in this collection is Settlement Near a Peak, a wonderfully concrete work that is at once relaxed, foreboding, and yet hopeful. The forebodingness is largely the result of the work's dark color palette, but the highlights and gradients imbue the hope. The small chunks cut out of the mountain, and the vertical lines piercing through and out of it are the human contributions in the metaphor. Please enjoy!