Terror of One

Terror of One was inspired by a dream Mac had in the summer of 2001, and painted in the winter of 2003 as a contemporary update of Edvard Munch's famous painting, The Scream. In the dream, Mac envisioned a powerful obelisk luring people to it with promises of wealth, fame, and success. As the masses of people gathered, those closest to the obelisk started to be crushed the waves of people pouring towards it. In the dream, a lone figure pulled out a gun and fired it into the air the disperse the crowd and clear space around them. However, for the crowd, this moment represents something entirely different. Awareness begins to dawn on the crowd that not only is there a man with a gun, but that a bullet is hovering above them and must come down. As they stand shoulder to shoulder, it begins to rain, and fear consumes the crowd. This fear is depicted in the painting in various stages of abstraction and comic action.

 Mac painted the Terror of One with white oil on black canvas so as not to hide any of the marks in his process. The painting was selected for exhibition at the Royal Scottish Academy, and has since been exhibited in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Ohio.