MALM - Modern Art Line Motifs

This collection's theme is purely compositional, focusing on works that centrally utilize horizontal and vertical line motifs, or both at once. To begin, Tunneling in Discovery shows a block of white against a blue background, and the various tunnels and channels dug through it as negative space against the array of multicolored vertical lines. It all converges on the center of the work, as the subject presumably tunnels even further. Next, Breaking into Life is vibrant and active, using the contrast between background horizontal lines and foreground vertical lines, combined with more negative space, to give an impression of layers and depth. All the while, the contours and the motion of the subject of the work, also embodied by the negative space and the cracks running through it, are expressed in form. The particular direction in which the subject moves - towards the top-left of the image - goes together with the horizontal and vertical lines behind it, to emphasize that motion. A One's Own Framework is more subdued, sticking to a violet-centered color palette and using more gradual, smooth contours between its vertical-lines foreground and horizontal-lines background. The central figure seems like it's floating, relaxing, in this environment: relaxed and in control, as it well should be in an environment conforming to its own framework. Broken Scape is almost opposite, a hectic and frenetic work with clashing colors and a rough texture. Like the other works in this collection, however, it uses vertical lines as a foregrouna and horizontal lines as a background, though its texturing lets it play with depth somewhat, and the layers appear closer to each other than in some other works in this collection. And finally of note, Mysterious Ancient Skyline doesn't use many horizontal lines, and instead relies on coloration mainly to distinguish its background from its midground. The foreground of the work is only visible where snaking channels of negative space blot out the vertical lines of the midground, and this (along with the contours of those channels) manages to give the work a surprising amount of depth while maintaining an air of mystery. Please enjoy!