Then comes “Drive Thru,” a concluding quandary placed before

Then comes “Drive Thru,” a concluding quandary placed before us from Scott’s imagination. Here h« speaks in tongues, a panoply of his colors and shapes telling a story that no one wants to hear.

In the background stands the archetypical American town, its onestory homes dad in brick and whitealuminum siding, like a USIA* poster. But all that bedrock morality and melting pot simplicity is threatened by a menacing compressed gas' tank that dominates the foreground and aims to capture the entire painting. That steel gray cylinder is a con-> fused and confusing symbol. It looms with a destiny, like a guided missilS with a conscience. That primary red meter cap, an ominous silo button^ seems at the same time an inflamed navel on some foreign body sent td destroy us. '<>

Between the viewer and the instrument of doom stands a vibrant yellow protective pole, its benV curve nuclear shadow resting uneas1-! ily against the tank. That pole protects the tank from us; ironically, Scott speaks of no pole that can pro-, tect us from the death wish that pilots that steel messenger. -;y

For this viewer the expression^ of Scott Robinson and Lynnettq Nicholas, despite their differences of style and tone, converge at this point. Both seem pressed to the reali ization that the meaning and value of human existence are not found in thq hazy landscapes of human perception, nor in the instruments of power that can destroy their own creators, In their hands the creative process’ turns back to search in the artists’" inner self for clues to the mystery of ! being. In the process we are invite'd" along for the journey to the world of, mood, mystery and fantasy. •_*£

To the reader I extend their invj^ tation. j!

Dr. Thomasson is a professor $ theology at Georgetotvn University

and a member of the core faculty <jf the school 8 liberal studies prograntL He is a previously published critic §L art and literature. 3

*0