A Package of Influence

Critique may draw comparisons between work being critiqued and the work of master or well-known or established artists, suggesting connections, perhaps possible inspiration. However, does it elucidate the work when the connections seemed strained or really are disguised commentary directed at the master artists' work? Sometimes, simultaneous connections to multiple artists are suggested in a way that seems to suppose every action the current artist made must have been borrowed from other artists, or at least must be reminiscent of them, for the piece to be successful. While artists do integrate multiple influences, tying up the influences neatly in a little package for easy consumption somehow makes the conversation less compelling. Or so I feel, today; of course, I started out assuming the connections were strained, and sometimes the suggested connection is dead-on.