Breathless by Alantherock: One Breath, Both Ways

Breathless by Alantherock is a limited edition art print of two green lungs on a warm sand ground, with a single stem running up between them. At the top of that stem, strokes fly upward and apart. At the bottom, they turn in a slow whirl. The picture holds both directions of a breath at once, and leaves you to decide which one you are in.

Breathless by Alan Pedersen, Alantherock, is a mixed media limited edition art print built from acrylic paint, drawing, texture, photographs and graphic shapes. It shows a pair of lungs, two dark red discs and a central stem. It is limited to 500 signed and numbered prints on Fine Art Freja paper at 265 g, in two sizes.

Out at the Top, Round at the Bottom

Breathless holds two kinds of movement, and they sit at opposite ends of the same stem. Above the lungs, the stem frays into a burst. Its strokes, in red, teal and white, fly upward and fan apart, and a few flecks have broken away completely and hang in the bare ground above. Nothing up there curls back. Everything is leaving.

Below the lungs, the same stem comes apart the other way. The strokes there bend into arcs that circle a point just beneath it, nested one inside the next, the way a gust turns in a corner or water turns in a basin. Nothing down there gets away. It goes round.

Between the two, the lungs are the stillest thing in the picture. They are filled in solid green, with fine dark lines branching inside them like the veins of a leaf, and they do not move at all.

That is what keeps the title open. A breath has two halves, and this picture draws both of them at the same time: one going out, one going round. Alan Pedersen's own description asks a single question of it, What do you see?, and then offers several answers without settling on one. Wanting to speak, or even scream, and being unable to. A lack of fresh air. The lungs of the natural world, under strain. Being on fire, and leaving others breathless. Each of those readings finds somewhere in the picture to stand, because the picture has given each of them a direction to move in.

A Pair Knocked Off Balance

Breathless is built on a symmetry that something has pushed sideways. The two lungs mirror each other closely. Measured across the image of the full sheet, their centres sit at the same height to within one percent, the same distance either side of the middle, and they cover almost exactly the same area of green.

The two dark red discs behind them do not. One sits high, half hidden behind the left lung. The other sits low, behind the right. Their centres are a full quarter of the sheet apart in height.

So the picture carries two structures laid over one another: a pair that stands straight, and a diagonal that runs across it from upper left to lower right. The product description calls the work both balanced and chaotic simultaneously. That is not only a mood. You could find it with a ruler.

Each disc is ringed in a white keyline, and each lung is edged underneath in white and teal, so every shape sits slightly lifted from the ground behind it. The whole arrangement has the look of layers that could still slide.

Two of Eight: Breathless and Hope

Breathless is one of only eight limited editions NOKUKO holds, and it has a close relative among them. The two share a warm sand ground, the same deep green, the same red and teal, and the same edition size of 500. Sampled from the product images, their grounds and their greens are a near match.

Hope, Limited Edition by Alantherock draws a bare tree rising from a dark mass. Breathless turns the same palette on the body. Hang them side by side and a tree and a pair of lungs answer each other across the wall, two things that both live by exchanging air.

Every print of Breathless is signed by Alan Pedersen and marked with its number, written as 1/500, next to the signature. In its smaller size it is, at the time of writing, the lowest priced of NOKUKO's eight limited editions, which makes it the most direct way into that part of the collection.

Two sizes are offered, 30x40 cm and 50x70 cm, both printed on Fine Art Freja paper at 265 g to hold the depth of the colours. The frame in the product images is for illustration only.

Most pictures about breath show a person: someone gasping, someone singing, someone at the top of a hill. Breathless leaves the person out and draws only what moves, and which way.

It is a print to hang where you will pass it often. Some days the burst at the top will look like a shout. Other days the whirl below will look like the moment just before one.

About Breathless

What paper is Breathless printed on?
It is printed on Fine Art Freja paper at 265 g, chosen to bring out the colours. The original was built from acrylic paint, drawing, texture, photographs and graphic shapes. The frame shown in the product images is for illustration and is not included.

What sizes does Breathless come in?
Two sizes, 30x40 cm and 50x70 cm. Both hold the same composition, with the pair of lungs at the centre of the sheet and the whirl of strokes below them.

Does Breathless come in different colourways or editions?
No. There is one version of this print, offered in the two sizes. Every copy carries Alan Pedersen's signature and its edition number in the bottom right corner.

Is Breathless a limited edition, is it signed, and does it come with a certificate?
Yes, yes and no. Breathless is limited to 500 prints and is one of only eight limited editions NOKUKO holds. Each print is signed by the artist and marked with its number, written as 1/500, next to the signature. No certificate of authenticity is issued, because certificates accompany NOKUKO's original works rather than its prints. Its product page describes it as an exclusive print.