Compare and Contrast

When I remade "Number 14" by Mark Rothko, I chose to keep the geometric shapes of the rectangles and their positions on the page to use as a foreground and background. I also chose to keep the same color scheme, because of the emotional reaction the colors generate. I changed the piece by adding an organic shape, in the form of a woman, to give subject matter to the piece. It’s asymmetrical shape creates more interesting balance. It also adds movement and leads the eye around the page. Additionally, I added depth to my version by building up layers of translucent color, and only making the parts of the body that are pressed up against this imaginary barrier opaque. This added perspective to the piece.

I chose to use this composition to rework the painting because I felt that it helped show the emotions that he originally wanted to portray. In his work, Rothko wanted people to see raw emotions. I decided to keep that psychological aspect when re-designing this piece. I turned the red rectangle into a transparent box, or screen. The figure is trapped inside a box of red here symbolizing fear, anger, and violence. On the outside is the cool serenity of the blue. The twist is that the figure is blue too, but does not realize she has the potential to be calm because she is too caught up in trying to break through the fear.