Recurring Dreams

Like many artists, Powers had favorite subjects he would return to time and again.  But whereas some artists may have favorite locations or models, Powers had favorite shapes.  He obviously enjoyed exploring certain shapes and visual ideas over and over.  It is not a case of running short of ideas (of which he had plenty).  Instead Powers created his own visual "language", and certain words bore repeating (albeit with different accents).

Powers played with many such motifs.  Here are just a few examples...

Meta-Heads
There is a tool in 3D modeling called "metaballs" that reminds me of a certain type of head motif that Powers sometimes used.  The effect achieves a different goal in each of these examples.  The meta-head of Aluminum Man gives the figure an intriguing appearance of "liquid metal" (long before Terminator 2).  The meta-head on the more realistic body in Time And Stars lends a horrifying loss of identity.  My favorite use of the meta-head is from On the Beach (bottom right) where the woman's head takes the appearance of a mushroom cloud -- brilliant!

From Richard Powers Art Blog

Minimal Man

What do you get when a meta-head finally pulls off the host body?  You get what I call the "minimal man".  This abstracted figure is disjointed and about as minimal as you can get.  Sometimes the head is connected, sometimes it just floats.  Sometimes there are 3 or 4 legs.  Why not?

From Richard Powers Art Blog

The Uprights

Another favorite shape idea is what I call the "uprights" because of their resemblance to football goal posts... complete with a "football" element (for three points)!

From Richard Powers Art Blog

Knives as Architecture

This is pretty self-explanatory, and certainly lends a bit of tension and danger to these future skylines.

From Richard Powers Art Blog

The Manta Shape

This interesting shape reminds me of a manta ray.  I find it fascinating that Powers decided to explore this shape again 16 years later (the amount of time between these two paintings).

From Richard Powers Art Blog