Experience and Response

Immediately, a few things stuck out to me. First was the implication of innocence from the white halo-like veil and flower crown. At the same time, the figure itself appears ghost-like, unmoving, and quiet. Beyond the figure, a red glow arrises from the background, though its origin is blocked by the spectral figure. "Hellfire" is the word that came to mind while looking at this red glow against the blackness.

Using one-point perspective with a central vanishing point, the artist seems to draw a connection between the repetition of the mechanical parts with the arrangement of pews in a church. With the juxtaposition of religious imagery with the machine-age factory floor, the painting to me has an overwhelming sense of loneliness and frailness. 

Intended Meaning

While I saw in this image a duality between religious imagery and machinery, when I read the information plaque after making my own observations, I saw that the painting in its time was meant to speak to "anxiety and loneliness" of the decade before the impending destruction of WWII. Painted by a Carnegie Tech art professor, what I find extremely compelling about this painting is that it was inspired by a dream the artist had after going to a Pittsburgh steel mill.