Thursday, January 31, 2013

Spirit art - part two

I have been painting for two weeks now - and there appears to be no end in sight. I had bought a large load of sweaters to turn into art of some kind - I was inspired by an artist named Katwise and her amazing sweater coats on Etsy. The newly purchased sweaters are still in their bags, in the garage. I will get to them eventually.

My muse is taking a turn for me. I had originally thought of doing a series of sea motifs. I love the ocean, shells, water, beaches - I was born near the shore, so it runs in my blood I suppose. I married another water baby, a true Agwe. But now, as my inner eye opens and the creatures I call friend proliferate in my house, I find their whispers are taking my work in another direction.

The recent square bottles are all Simbis - red, blue and green.  Serpent motifs entwine them, forked tongues just out in silent criticism of the world, and the solo eyes I craft stare impertinently back at me. I laugh at them, and they turn a head, laughing silently along with me.

I've been buying angels of late. Soaring creatures with splayed wings and pious faces. I spent the afternoon cutting off their heads and hands, impaling them on the fronts of my bottles, giving them skeleton heads and hands, to replace their pious gestures and faces. They look better to me, more real and in touch with the world. The creatures egg me on, whispering new ideas.

I just purchased a Nativity set. I am damned, I know it, but I keep cutting, plastering, painting and gilding. New ideas, new forms keep arising. Old religions die off, giving rise to new ones. Old gods fade away, only to be replaced by new ones. The latest incarnation is Santa Muerte, and her cult is growing by leaps and bounds. Death reigns supreme in a world of atomic weapons, nuclear fuel and idiot leaders who think they will save their own butts first, before helping anyone else.

Am I mad? I will keep painting, it feels right and I will enjoy the journey that I tell so many others to do. So be it. Right now, I have a saint to behead.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I love how these turned out, and love seeing some of the process here, too. They are magical and truly art--because art should not always be comfortable, but should startle us, too, and make us see the world in new ways.

Beautiful!

Unknown said...

Oh, and because I can't figure out comments on blogger (though usually it won't even let me leave comments!) I see this came through anonymously. So this anonymous post loves seeing the progress since I saw them in person, in progress too! --Lisa