Restraint (Awat)
Mark Justiniani
1998

Part of a series of oil paintings on wood that have parable-like themes, Awat by Mark Justiniani depicts a levitating sleeper in his night clothes being restrained by an earth bound hand to protect him from forever floating into the night sky. A metaphor for grounded consciousness, the work seems to portray the wayward and infinite inertia of the dreaming mind and the need to restrain its lack of gravity by a simple tug towards earth…and to wakefulness.

Medium
Oil on Wood

Dimensions
39 x 34.5 cm (15 x 14”)