ARTS & SOCIETY FORUM: Theodore Gericault’s ‘The Raft of the Medusa’ is not only an enormous painting of high drama and tragedy on a cinematic scale, but it is also an assertion of the power of underlying geometry, shape and colour to carry a narrative. It is a constant inspiration to me for the creation of meaning in art through composition, a balance of both form, shape and subject. Picasso’s ‘Three Dancers’ is equally assertive through its brightly coloured, flat geometric shapes, and like Gericault’s ‘Raft’ it also has a complex human narrative. Dido Powell is a painter who rejects the separation of the painting categories ‘abstract ‘ and ‘figurative’. For years, she has been interested in including abstract shapes in my paintings that she has observed from her surroundings, such as reflections and shadows. Painter Dido Powell explains how these paintings, separated by a century, convey their meanings and deal with poignant human struggles.