Saint Helices 6, 28" x 22", acrylic on paper, 1989. Artist's collection.

I mentioned previously that one part of the multi-fold intrigue I had discovered in the first Saint Helices studies was the element of narrative. I am speaking here of an implicit form of narrative, not literal narrative. From the first study, I treated this composition as an abstract composition. However, the first study also carried a strong element of chiaroscuro--modulations of tone implying a source of light, and the effect of light when it strikes an object. The presence of this naturalistic character of light falling across an object implies the presence of the issues of time and place. Time and place are two of the basic elements of narrative. The addition of the atmospheric sky element in this version brought the narrative aspect of the composition to a new level, as well as transforming what was previously "the lower white area" into a form of its own.