Laura Gougeon

Power and Imagination

Anmarie and Kudray
June 4, 2016
One Man Conquering Two Planets
The inspiration behind my masterpiece is the painting Bowman (1895) by
Edward Curtis. As I strolled through the Portland Art Museum, examining the different art pieces
from the Native American section, this was the painting that left the most prominent impression
in my brain. There is such a power force looking at this paining because of the man standing on
the rock, very still and ready to catch his prey which is his only way of survival. Though this
man has very little money by the fact he has very little clothing on and has to use a bow and
arrow to fish for his food supply, it shows a great amount of courage on his part for continuing to
do this every day in order to live. It is clear he has mastered the act of fishing in this form by
how still he appears to be with great composure holding his weapon.
In the art work that I have created, it shows various parts of the story in one but the main
overall theme is the power and composure that Shevek from The Dispossessed by Le Guin had
while working to break down the wall to bring together the two very opposing planets of Urras
and Anarres with his development of a physics theory. The phone is the base of the picture and it
is to represent the communication that ends up occurring between the two planets. It is not a
direct communication, it is a way for the information to reach the two planets at a faster rate. For
a very long time, Shevek was unable to solve this theory for it was too complex and there is this
invisible wall that blocks a lot of information from connecting in his mind and this causes
problems in a lot of other areas in his life such as relationships with other individuals. He is able

to solve the theory and connect the two planets but it goes far deeper than just solving a math
problem. By solving this theory he essentially shows his great courage and power to overcome
the wall that was blocking him for so long.
My inspirational picture I used to create my artwork closely relates to each other. The
main attraction from the Bowman painting that I used is the steady man standing on the rock
showing an abundant amount of pose and power to overcome his struggles. In my master piece, I
used the wall as the connecting pieces for the planets with Shevek standing on top in order to
portray the same effect with the main focal point being the Native American man standing on the
rock showing his pose and power even through the hard times he was facing. I wanted to
demonstrate that same illusion but with Shevek on top of the wall in order to exhibit the idea that
he had conquered his greatest struggle of overcoming the mental wall blocking him and in turn
showing his power that it took to do so which was solving the theory. Also, the bow and arrow
that the Native American is using in the Bowman painting would represent the same idea as the
physics for Shevek. The weapon he holds is all that he really knows in life and it is his greatest
gift to have the privilege of having it in order to catch his food and survive. Physics for Shevek is
his most accomplished talent he has, and he knows he is smart enough to do great things with it,
such as create a physics theory in order to allow the two plants to communicate with each other
like they never have before.