This image was created in 2000 by Marty Kiser.
Tribute to Salvador Dali.
I began this painting after my wife gave me a book of Salvador Dali’s artwork for my birthday in November of ’99. Dali’s work sparked in me a realization that a lot of what we think about keeps us trapped in the ridged structure of time. Dali used the bull in several of his images, which inspired me to do the same for this one.
The four shoes on the bull stand for all of us — the average person working outside, at the office, in the sports arena. The melting clock is another Dali element. It and the bull stand for Time in its fluid state. We don’t see that Time is fluid and so are enslaved to what we perceive it to mean. Produce, produce, produce — more, better, faster. Life rushes past, we rush through life, and then Time gets away from us and runs amock. We become overwhelmed and easily toppled over. The figures represent how fragile all of us are in our need to keep up with Time and try to make the most of every minute. All the important trappings of the modern day are strewn about, and we end up stopping anyway to recover and repair the damage.
Rushing around doesn’t really get us anywhere any faster.
There is a self-portrait of me in there somewhere. Can you find it?
You can purchase a giclee of this painting from our Etsy Store. It comes with a copy of the poem.