This could be a stretch, but here is my interpretation of your image. As with most of your work, this one has opposing and contradictory meanings. For example, the title can be read in two ways: as either get what you’re giving or get what you’re given. The figures appear to be a mother and child. But, in this case, the traditional roles of parent and child are reversed: The child is taking care of his mother, rather than the other way around. The X on the cup mirrors the + on the mother’s abdomen, suggesting that the child is giving back to his mother, something that was previously given to him. . . by giving birth she gave him his life, and in return, through the gesture of offering her the cup, he is symbolically reciprocating her nurturing and sustenance. This supports the positive version of the title (get what you’re giving) and the idea of Karmic reciprocity, which claims that we ultimately get back what we put out. On the other hand, the term “get what you’re given” has the opposite meaning. This phrase is often used as a form of withholding in order to set limits or boundaries, or by a parent when a child is being too demanding, to remind the child that they can’t always get what they want. This phrase reinforces the role reversal that is evident in the image. However, in your title the word “givin” collapses the words giving and given into one suggesting that the two gestures, while they may not be the same, are reciprocal.
2 comments:
Yes, please...I’d like some of that :)
This could be a stretch, but here is my interpretation of your image. As with most of your work, this one has opposing and contradictory meanings. For example, the title can be read in two ways: as either get what you’re giving or get what you’re given. The figures appear to be a mother and child. But, in this case, the traditional roles of parent and child are reversed: The child is taking care of his mother, rather than the other way around. The X on the cup mirrors the + on the mother’s abdomen, suggesting that the child is giving back to his mother, something that was previously given to him. . . by giving birth she gave him his life, and in return, through the gesture of offering her the cup, he is symbolically reciprocating her nurturing and sustenance. This supports the positive version of the title (get what you’re giving) and the idea of Karmic reciprocity, which claims that we ultimately get back what we put out. On the other hand, the term “get what you’re given” has the opposite meaning. This phrase is often used as a form of withholding in order to set limits or boundaries, or by a parent when a child is being too demanding, to remind the child that they can’t always get what they want. This phrase reinforces the role reversal that is evident in the image. However, in your title the word “givin” collapses the words giving and given into one suggesting that the two gestures, while they may not be the same, are reciprocal.
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