An Equal and Opposite Reaction

If you had a high school physics class and learned about the theories of motion, the title of this painting will sound familiar to you. Newton's third law of motion states that for every action (force) in nature there is an equal and opposite reaction. One pool ball hits another, and the reaction or result is that they push each other in opposite directions.

This physical reality and how we represent it visually was partly what inspired this painting. The other part was sort of a human equivalent, or our emotional reality. Our actions have a profound effect on the people we know and beyond, to the world around us. And conversely, we are reacting to the actions of others all the time. On both ends, we can’t seem to escape the emotional toll it takes.

I can think of many reasons that these thoughts came to mind as I worked on this painting- the loss of civility in politics; our effect on the environment; our choice of profits over treating workers with dignity; the effects of school shootings. All of these things seem to be having a huge toll on our collective emotional state.

I wish I was pointing to the answer with this painting. But I’m thinking maybe the first step is to be reminded that we are feeling. We are not just numb. We should honestly acknowledge when an action hurts. Maybe after the feelings are on the table, we can all figure out an equal and opposite reaction.