Creative Expressions of Colour by A. Jerry Simon
July 19 2026 | Art Review
This week we are looking at a surrealistic visual commentary on addiction. I have combined my background in science, medicine (specifically addiction medicine) and fine art to create a picture of the physical, psychological and social deterioration caused by the indiscriminate use of alcohol.
The painting features a distorted Mason jar (typically used for Moonshine liquor in the U.S. prohibition period) that encloses a face. The heavy thick and blue outlines form a distinct, claustrophobic silhouette of the bottle wrapping around the central facial figure. This encapsulates the theme of containment – illustrating how an individual becomes trapped inside their own substance dependence.
The composition features a duality of self. The lower face represents the conscious, sombre human trapped at the base of the bottle. His expression is hollow, with wide, uneven eyes, and heavy with a blue, melancholic undertone, capturing deep psychological despair. The top face melts upward into an erratic, animal-like visage with a singular, prominent eye visible. This embodies the “distorted spirit” or altered state of mind, visually conveying the erosion of identity, clarity and rational thought under the influence.
Of course, the word “spirit” in the title has a dual meaning, where it also refers to the alcoholic drink itself.
The overwhelming texture is heavy, impasto-like, of blues, blacks and murky teals. It creates an impression of fluid movement while generating a suffocating, bruised atmosphere. The fiery pink and orange moon or orb bleeds into the dark background, introducing an external sense of volatile energy. The bleeding reds create a divide between the two faces, acting as a visual anchor for underlying anger, pain and visceral internal destruction.
By labelling the bottle’s content a “distorted spirit,” the artwork gives a warning that indiscriminate alcohol consumption fundamentally reshapes the human spirit, fracturing an individual’s connection to reality, their community and themselves. As we enter our annual summer Carnival, I hope that the warning is heeded.