Artchallenge #12

For this Art Challenge, we are looking at a painting by Rafal Olbinski.

The two people are separated by a chasm. The man is sleeping on his side, facing away from us. He is wearing an undershirt, and we cannot see his face. Is he waiting for something? Next to him there is a side table, with a bottle of wine and two glasses. Does he want to have the wine with the woman? While they are lying in the same bed, the chasm separates them. They are connected by an artificial construct, while the underlying nature tries to separate them.

The woman seems more open, she is naked as far as we can see, vulnerable. Is she asleep, or only pretending? The bird in between them is carrying a letter, presumably from the man, but it will probably suffer the same fate as the all the letters that have come before, that we can see in a pile lying next to her, unopened. She does not want to hear what he has to say... Or is she just asleep, and the letters too light to wake her as they fall?

In the corner, next to the woman lies a small red ball. Is it for a child that they never had, or for one who has left? Or is it a symbol of more playful times past?

In the background there is a sky full of either clouds or smoke, but they are still above them, and there is still the sight of the stars peeking through that.

The whole painting shows a relationship that is failing, the two people have drifted apart, and rather than speaking to each other, they use an intermediary, with the communication breaking down and getting lost.