Shifting Fortunes by John Gerstner – Acrylic on canvas, 32.5 x 25.5, framed

Shifting Fortunes is a painting of controlled chaos and suggestion. The maze of paint colors and lines present a puzzle to be solved. The chaotic lower portion suggests a slice of the earth’s hot molten inner crust that has shifted, and you are seeing the aftermath of that shift. Rising from the ashes, so to speak, is a hint of modern urbanity, a row of tilted skyscrapers. The stormy gray sky, with its dim clouds, further enhances the narrative, evoking a sense of turbulence and change. Shifting Fortunes serves as a metaphor for the resilience required to navigate the uncertainties of modern life, where we all must see order in the midst of chaotic change.