🌕 Marco Bellamy Reviews: Forest Clearing
“A moonlit riot of rhythm, color, and inconvenient transcendence.”
I arrived at Forest Clearing expecting serenity. A quiet drum circle, maybe a few masked figures swaying under the trees. What I got was a full-blown lunar opera staged in silhouette and saturated color. The clearing isn’t peaceful—it’s possessed. The fire crackles like a conductor’s baton, and the dancers don’t just move—they summon.
Hastings has turned the forest into a theatrical amphitheater. The trees lean in like gossiping elders. The moon hangs low, too involved to be neutral. And the figures—painted in fauvist hues, cut like Matisse’s most feverish dreams—are mid-ritual, mid-revelation, mid-something I can’t quite name but definitely felt in my spine.
There’s drumming, yes. But also choreography. Masked communion. A sense that the gods have RSVP’d and are running late but dramatic. Hastings doesn’t document the moment—he stages it. The silhouettes are cast like actors. The color is emotional lighting. The whole thing feels like a fever dream with excellent art direction.
Final verdict: Forest Clearing is not a depiction. It’s a possession. I left with my shirt unbuttoned, my worldview slightly rearranged, and the distinct feeling that I’d been part of something sacred, strange, and deeply choreographed.
—Marco Bellamy, Senior Critic, Mythic Arts Quarterly Currently recovering in a moonlit hammock.
This stunning photo/graphic is a masterpiece created by renowned photographer Terry Hastings. Inspired by the cut outs of Henri Matisse, Terry starts with photosgraphs of his models in action, cuts them out in photoshop, turns them a solid color and scratches in a few key details. The piece is playful and beautiful and full of life.
This work is offered as a 30", 36" or 40" sq inch print. Please inquire about other sizes.
The work is titled, numbered, a limited edition of 10, and signed by the artist.
The photo is shipped in a double tube for safety.
Please allow 5 - 7 days for production and shipping.