Waiting / Watching
This is a work that deals with change. To me, the Raven has always symbolized a change of thinking, of heart, or of the way in which one lives their life. The Raven is a trickster - often a nuisance - but in the end, his mischief always brings about a lesson, or a blessing (mixed as it may be).
In "Waiting", the figure is calm, inward looking. She is observing both the world around her and the world within her. She is at the cusp of learning something new, and there is an anxiety to it. Her body holds that anxiety in her shoulders...the indrawn breath. She is surrounded by a land in flux, an autumn place that holds within it a preternatural calm and timelessness. For this moment, everything has stopped and life stands still. She is on the precipice of change. There is a sublime tension here. The kind wherein we experience that sudden leap to a new level of understanding or resolve. She is about to exhale and when she does, she will experience that exciting, intensely personal moment when we see with altered eyes and it feels like the world has dawned anew.
In "Watching", the Raven's eye pierces outward, but it is neither in challenge nor intrusively. His gaze is simply direct. The Raven watches. He has invested a trick and is waiting to see if it will pay off. A stumbling block has been placed in our path...how are we going to deal with it? If we do not rise to the challenge, the trick may result in something difficult, but if we are reflective and open, and attempt to find the path or solution to our trouble, then the trick will help us to live a more complete life. And this is the role of the Raven. He teaches us through frustration, but his intent is not to harm. Although it may look like he leads us into difficulty, and the path may indeed be hard, he guides us away from the impassable and deadly route and keeps us on the safer road.
3 comments:
Waiting and watching... good attributes if action follows.
The paintings show your amazing talent.
I recognize your picture too - admiring the wisdom of the trees.
I don't understand sth.Why do you use a woman figure on your every work???
That's a very good question and one that I get a lot. to answer it, I'll post something I wrote for a painting I did earlier this year:
"O the strength of a woman! I am often asked why I do not feature more men in my work. Well, the answer is simple, men do not hold any mystery for me. We're pretty predictable and easy to read, for the most part. I think that in the story of Adam and Eve, the thing missing is the moment when God might have said, "Behold, my greatest work of love and creation!" when Eve came into being. To me, women are the ultimate work of art and I will never tire of creating art as long as there are women in this world. Vessel of life, keeper of the most ancient mystery, compassionate, caring , soft...but then, powerful, strong, determined, wise, the guardians of humanity."
I hope that helps.
I probably paint three images of men a year. There are still things to explore, and who knows where this exploration will take me in the future? There may be mysteries I have not yet uncovered, and one day someone will ask me, "Why do you only paint men?".
I suppose another element to consider is that fact that right now, I am trying to make work that is looking for a new path, a new way of doing things...and the male dominant world model doesn't satisfy. This mode of societal and cultural and spiritual governance is leading us to the brink of catastrophe.
As a people, we need to return to the roots of civilization...the time when women didn't have to fight for acknowledgement or equality. It would be good to rediscover in our world culture a reverence for the power of life and a more responsible way of looking at how we interact with all life on earth.
I could go on, but I think that's enough for today.
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