“Mysterious Contusions”

Martha Valenta - 2023 - 16” x 20”
unframed acrylic on canvas

This abstract acrylic painting depicts the puzzling bruises and marks that seem to mysteriously appear on those with ADHD. The artist used a combination of brushes, markers, and mops to create winding, curving forms in shades of pink, blue, turquoise, millennial yellow, coral, portrait pink, and white.

The flowing lines twist across the canvas at varied widths, overlapping and intersecting in organic shapes that evoke the scattered nature of inexplicable contusions. The viewer's eye roams over the improvisational composition, tracing the route of each colorful discoloration in an attempt to understand its origins. Yet the bruises defy logic in their random paths, serving as a visual metaphor for the wonderfully erratic ADHD mind.