Every time Bert paints, he tries to push the boundaries. Either with a new and exciting subject/idea or taking his technical abilities to a higher level. Jungle 2 is one of those paintings where he made a leap.
The compositional structure is amazing. From the bottom-right, working its way upwards and to the left is a brownish run of paint.
The silver enamel spray paint was used on this early abstract painting. It’s quite the contrast up close.
Dimensions: 58x92cm
Painted: 2004
Materials: Acrylic and enamel on MDF board
Private collection
The story behind Jungle 2
Living in the form of a monkey isn’t much fun. I have done this in one of my past lives. Actually, I have lived several past lives in the form of various primates – a chimpanzee, a gorilla, and an orangutan. The worst part about living as a primate is that you have to conform to the expected norms of the species.
I am a very creative soul, and when living amid the jungle, I was always frustrated by the others of my tribe, who never stopped denying me my right to express myself with art.
I would set out to draw the other monkeys with a stick in the dirt. They would see this as a form of elitism and then proceed to bash me. Later I would try my hand at music, singing primal love songs to woo the females – and the brutish males would bash me for this too. Every attempt at living my life as an artist was thwarted. I just had to bide my time and store away in my soul the experiences of what a jungle looks like, what it sounds like, what it smells like.
So in all the many forms where I have existed (in a human form); I have led the life of an artist. In this current form, I offer to the world this abstract expressionist painting as a recollection of living as a primate, who mostly sat in a tree and watched the world go by. The jungles of Borneo; where a multitude of wild and colorful creatures live through their droll, animalistic existence.
Bert Ernie
Detail views of abstract painting Jungle 2
