Visual Artist Fran Forman is the Edge of Humanity Magazine contributor of this photo essay. From the series ‘To Insure Domestic Tranquility’. To see Fran’s body of work, click on any image.

The first line of the United States Preamble to the Constitution assures us of an environment free of unrest, discord, apprehension, and strife.

This series presents the paradox and tension between the elegant and solid structures upon which our country was founded, and their illusion of tranquility. Despite promises of tranquility, our lives are too often filled with isolation, transience, discontent and ambiguity, suggesting a world unsettled and unmoored. Although our interior spaces appear to be animated and inhabited, they belie moments of isolation and melancholy.

In the creation of these works my primary influences are: the paradoxical and dreamy narratives of Magic Realism; contemporary cinematography and those ‘in-between’ moments; and the visually stunning art of 17th-century Dutch Masters. In their small paintings, the placement of the figure within the interior space and the dramatic use of chiarascuro, color, perspective and harmony serve to illuminate the harmonious, emotional lives of their subjects. While adhering to the standards of these earlier masters’ tranquil interior spaces, my tableaux suggest the discord and heartbreak threatening our elegant and solid traditions.

My contemporary scenes harken to these earlier masters,yet are created with modern tools that composite traditional photography and imagined realities.