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Shaun Tan - "Never Leave a Red Sock on the Clothesline" - oil on canvas
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Never Leave a Red Sock on the Clothesline
Oil on canvas by Shaun Tan (2012).
Artwork size: 86 x 76 cm (33.9" x 29.9")
Frame size: 88.5 x 78.5 x 4.7 cm (34.8" x 30.9" x 1.9")
"This was one of the first images conceived for the book, before I knew what it might be about. I originally sketched children cowering behind a fence, hunted by a big black dog, but the familiarity of fairytale wolves felt too ‘loaded’, so I transformed the antagonist into a big rabbit. This actually feels more unsettling to me than a wolf – a soft herbivore miscoloured, and turned predator."
"An earlier version of this image was published as the cover for a comics collection Flinch, published by Gestalt in Perth, set in a leafy suburb. The landscape later evolved into something more industrial, not unlike the inner Melbourne suburbs where I currently live. The red sock adds a mysterious narrative to the picture and offering a natural (if inexplicable) title; and when it came to colouring the rabbit, a deep crimson felt right. It’s not necessarily a demonic rabbit, but might be part of a local mythology known only to these boys. All you know is that it’s probably not a good thing."
"The water tank and building are compositional details that suggest a fairly dry and bleak backyard (reminiscent of my Australian grandparents’ vast yard in the suburb of Myaree), and I think there is a sense of drought when looking at this picture. The light illuminates the space but also seems to trap the figures, pinning them down like insects to a board: nobody can move. It’s like some kind of terrible deadlock, punctuated by restrained breaths and heartbeats, each waiting for the other to make a move. The biggest risk is that the younger boy can’t keep his mouth shut. I think this general feeling of domestic strife is open to all manner of interpretation." —Shaun Tan