The ‘SEA’ (near the Dutch coast) plus the dog shown in the bottom right-hand corner of the picture form the German ‘Seehund’ as as one of several meanings of the English ‘SEAL’.
The background is a snapshot from the deck of the ferry Hull – Rotterdam just off the Dutch coast. The work shows another variation, an abstraction of the variation 1 of the ‘Under Seal’ theme and belongs to the SEA series. The SEA series explores the theme of “SEA” on three levels: visual, written, and sound.
[A] The combination of the background of the picture (the sky) and another visual object may evoke an (English) term that is ambiguous in German and thus “calls up a second theme”.
[B] In addition, this combination may result in a new subject or an invented word through an equally pronounced but differently spelled word combination, as well as through a differently pronounced but equally spelled word.
[C] Sometimes it is the title of the work that reveals the background and thematic association of the image.
[D] And in the one or other case it is just a modified photograph.