Symbolism in Art: A "Guide" Through the Confusion.

Today, in a bold act of public oversharing, I'm going to attempt to explain the symbolism in one of the illustrations from my (still in progress) book of illustrated poems, Stop Running: A Guide for the Emotionally Crippled.

Like most artists, I deeply resent having to explain my own work. Half the time, we don’t even know what it means ourselves. The other half, we pretend we do and hope nobody asks follow up questions. But here I am, doing the brave thing, publicly overanalyzing something I drew while listening to Elliot Smith and aggressively avoiding my feelings.

Let’s talk about The Incompetent Guide.

He’s the very first character you’ll meet in this poetic fever dream of a book. In theory, he’s supposed to be a “spirit guide” type, the wise soul who gently leads you through your inner world. The sherpa to drag you through the mountain range of your emotional baggage. But when I tried to imagine what my own guide would look like… things got weird.

Instead of a beacon of wisdom, I came up with a dazed, slightly sweaty character who looks like he just crawled out of bed, but let's not fool ourselves, we know he sleeps on a mattress on the floor.

His mismatched clothing includes a striped business tie, symbolising his unconvincing attempt to appear to be a professional in his field (could this possibly reflect my own imposter syndrome? Ooh, now things are getting meaty!) . Surrounding his head are sunrays, illuminating his face with a kind of halo, highlighting his angelic otherworldliness and hinting that he may possess a kind of wisdom which is beyond our comprehension.

On his map, which is stuffed carelessly into his hat, we can barely see the top of a sailboat, hinting at the ill conceived journey he is about to send us on. At the top of the map is a naively drawn house. Is it home that we will find at the end of this journey, or does the house represent ourself?

So there you have it. A sneak peek into one of the many maladjusted characters you’ll meet in Stop Running. If you’ve ever felt like your inner guide was more of a Pied Piper than an all knowing Sage, welcome. You’re in good company.

Jenni Mclaughlin Art.

The Incompetent Guide. Illustration from Stop Running: A Guide for the Emotionally Crippled. By Jenni Mclaughlin.