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Dumka

Dumka is at first glance a simple image; a thick brown cross on a white background with bold black accents. Upon closer inspection, there are many choices that show there is more intricacy and create a sense of layers. Measuring thirty-eight inches square, Harvey Quaytman painted Dumka with acrylic and rust in nineteen eighty-seven.

The dominant cross is made with rust which gives it a rich bronze color with a fine speckled texture. The dimensions are like those of a red cross, the stem as thick as each section is long so it would fit neatly into a three by three grid. The vertical length appears continuous but the two side pieces are separated by a thin dark line and slight variation in color as if the vertical was laid on top of the horizontal. There are irregular swaths of darker brown at the top and the sides of the cross and some lighter patches toward the center.

To the top and bottom left of the cross are black borders, a few inches thick. These lines end as they butt up to the cross, giving the impression that they continue on beneath the cross. This is reinforced by subtle changes in shading on the top, left, and bottom of the rust cross that continue the border. At the corners the vertical border extends just a hair past the horizontal, and a slight blue line makes it look like the vertical is laid over the horizontal border.

To the right of the vertical stem of the cross, there is another black border, also a few inches thick. It disappears behind the right horizontal cross piece making it look like a shadow cast by the cross.

All four ends of the cross have a small amount of jiggle making it a rough edge, that combined with the rust color, gives it a slight air of danger.