beams and white negative space in the background. At this point the viewer is naturally trying to decipher the meaning of the various figures in the painting. In contrast to this paintings abundant usage of white negative space, the other painting “Shaman and Apprentice” is almost entirely filled in with color. “Shaman and Apprentice” completely rejects the usage of geometric and symmetrical shape. The left side of this painting is noticeably heavier, giving off the impression that we should also read this painting left to right. It is immediately apparent to the viewer that this is a picture of two faces looking at one another. Now that the picture has taken recognizable form, a few questions yet remain. At this point, taking a look at the iconography and finding symbolic meaning in the painting will shed some light on the mystery.
“Baptism Mural” depicts a face in the upper right corner looking down with a sense of approval over what is going on in the painting. On the left we have a man adorned in a robe with golden trim. His face is pointing upward, along with one of his arms. In the outstretched arm the man is holding some sort of an artifact, and is pointing it towards the figure of a bird hovering above the scene in the upper left corner. The Bird commands a lot of attention, bold black line, and patches of red and green lead you to believe that this bird has extreme significance to the composition as a whole. It’s mere presence, is not only recognized by the viewer, but also the figures in the painting. They seem to acknowledge the bird with reverence. The third figure in the piece is located in the bottom, center of the page. However notwithstanding the location of this man, his importance is not to be