Looking Back

Reflections can simulate looking into the future, into another dimension. Viewing reflections satisfies our inner craving to look beyond, to look deeper into a world in which we have a limited view. And even though logically we understand that reflections are merely a visual response to something before or behind us, the experience tricks us into subconsciously entertaining the idea that we are looking forward, ahead, not back, as if it were a window to somewhere else. If you stop to think about your response to looking into a surface reflection, you begin to recognize (as I have) the same familiar, intuitive feelings stirring; perplexing feelings intertwined with a sense of wonder, curiosity and fascination. Where do they come from, and why? Is it the voyeur in us? Or the explorer? I sometimes think about the ancient days before the invention of glass, and imagine the fascination of surfs, peasants and nobility as they peered into a still body of water on a clear day and saw there visage inside an upside down world. How could we possibly know what we look like to others without a reflection. It would be impossible to know otherwise, leaving us trapped inside ourselves. Can we imagine today what it would be like not ever knowing what we look like?

I call this painting Looking Back for two reasons: Obviously, the mirror is reflecting back the other side of the room, of which we get a fractured glimpse. So we stare into it, to figure out what's behind us. And we know that, if we turn from it and look backward, to what the mirror is reflecting, we would not see the whole composition of the scene before us. It is the antique furniture, lamps and mirror that suggest the titled theme for this painting: We may be drawn to think the mirror's reflection is a view into the future, but the items of antiquity carry us back to the past.

You can view a larger image of this painting and more of my work at www.karlbronk.com