Arachnophobia

“Arachnophobia” is a 5-foot by 5-foot diamond, oil, ink and cotton on canvas painting of a clutter of spiders some black and some white. Some of these spiders are hidden within the darkest part of the painting, and some are camouflaged in the white part of the diamond shaped gradient. The gradient mimics the feeling of looking down a hole or into a deep cave. The spiders, drawn bigger than life, overtake the canvas inducing an uncomfortable feeling in the audience. On top of this, I stretch Halloween style fake spiderweb. This gives a physicality to the piece, bringing it out of the two-dimensional world while also providing comedy to the image. You know the spiders are fake, but some would still feel an uneasiness when viewing the painting. By using fake spiderwebs, I make fun of the reaction that some may have to the fake images of spiders as well as the human tradition to put up these spooky decorations for the intention of inducing a fear response. Even while I was using the webbing, it would wrap itself around me like true spider’s web forcing me to flail around in an all too comedic way to free myself.