THE SWIMMER
Neddy Merril swims home from a party via an imaginary chain of swimming pools in his neighbors’ backyards. He sinks deeper into despair the farther he swims and the closer he gets to his house. As he moves along in his journey, it becomes clear that things are terribly wrong. By the end of The Swimmer, all of the tradition in his life has broken down – his family, friends, money, illusion of happiness and place in his class is lost. The story is about the path from optimism to despair, from illusion to reality. I filled a capital S with watercolors, using the curving form as a gesture of a path or journey, and surrounded it with a chaotic nest of 15 swimming pool outlines. I added a ladder as an entry point to the collage, inviting the viewer to climb in and lose their way with Neddy.
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