Other losses.

Seasonal Demons

At the cusp of seasonal change, I am always in self exile. I mourn the passing of Summer as I anxiously await Autumn. Winter is usually the hardest month for me, I am a warrior; I wear strange feathers for bravery, I weave a lock of hair into a tiny, secret braid to ward off demons. Yet they come anyway, and at times, such as now, I welcome their intrusions, the old house guests who know their way to the knife drawer. 

The above images were found on this lovely blog HERE. Which, when I stumbled upon, seemed  just right, considering my constant yearning to get back to Paris sometime soon. (fingers crossed) The images popped up when I goggled 'Seasonal Demons' and apparently belong to a Bastille display. Lovely.

'The Robbing of the Bride' by Max Ernst . For obvious reasons, if you know me personally.

From the 36 Ghosts series. Shoki, the 'Demon Queller' relieves the emperor's troubles with nightmares and sleep by purging his dreams of the demons who haunt them. 

xoxo

Diane Arbus mini for me

(Teenagers in N.Y.C)

I first heard Diane Arbus's name spoken in one of my MFA classes in NYC a few years ago, around the time the film 'Fur' was released. Her images had haunted me long before however; and who doesn't know that famous, creepy twins photo that the creepy twins in 'The Shining' were based on.? I became obsessed and tracked down 'Fur' when it arrived on dvd. Interestingly, the movie is considered a 'fictional portrait' of her, rather than it being a movie/doc based on her life. (Apparently there was trouble with the surviving members of the family concerning making a film based on her biography) Honestly, the film is much more piercing this way. It's incredibly achingly sad and inspiring; and Robert Downey Jr. has never been so sexy in a movie as he is in this, despite you never seeing his face (which is covered in hair) until the end of the film. Rent it, buy it, watch it now, you will not be disappointed. 

 

I read her biography diligently last summer when I should have been writing my thesis and therefore cemented my eternal love for her life and her life's devotion to capturing the freaks and underbelly of society on film. She shot mainly with a Rolleiflex medium format twin-lens reflex camera, one that enabled her to make her subjects comfortable because it is worn around the neck and sits low at the waist; never being brought up to the photographers eye. (in many cases too comfortable, as she had a uncanny talent for capturing many people 'unmasked')

Which brings me to the object I stumbled on today during one of my many internet voyages:

This is a tiny, digital replica of the Rolleiflex twin lens Arbus shot with!  & & & &

It's available here, at my favorite guilty pleasure place to shop, for the ungodly price of 399$ for such a tiny tiny. However, should I magically stumble upon such amount, I would make the investment....it even still retains it's sneaky integrity; as it's worn here like an accessory!

Lykke Li

 Lately, I've been really into Swedish singer, Lykke Li. A favorite friend introduced me to her on a mix cd and from the first time I heard her voice, I was captivated. It reminded me of the first time I heard Joanna Newsom playing in Border's right before I set sail for France. I was haunted by her voice and looked all over trying to find 'Milk-eyed Mender' to no avail. Both singer/songwriters have unique, almost childish sounding voices.

 I missed the Lykke Li with El Perro del Mar (another rad singer) show at Johnny Brenda's by two days!!! so sad. Equally sad, her debut cd, 'Youth Novels' isn't available until August 19, but her ep is out now. My favorites so far are 'Little Bit' and 'Dance Dance Dance' (which was the song on the mix cd that started the obsession.) You can listen to her music now on her myspace.  XOXO.

Hair everywhere

Being a girl with long hair, I feel a kinship will all the new art that's been coming out featuring women with freakishly long hair......(these long haired lovelies even pop up in my own work) 

First is one of Kris Chau's newest pieces: 'Deep Tangle' made with ink and dyes:

Kris Chau is one of my favorite local artists and I try to buy paintings from her whenever I can. This painting features a long haired women coiled up in tangles and tangles of blue hair. The image is at once devious; is the hair suffocating her? and comforting; it appears as a soft bed catching her from a fall.

Next is Frenchy artist Miss Van

This is one of her newest prints, 'Atame 5' available on her webshop . The drawing features one her girls bound with her own hair. The idea of hair, often considered one of women's most powerful seduction tools, as a weapon used against herself is intriguing. The figure here seems to be in distress although it seems that she should be able to loosen her bounds easily. 

In July's Juxtapoz, she spoke of her use of hair in her work: " It is about being a slave to yourself, your own feelings, the idea of not feeling free mentally and being tortured."-Miss Van 2008

This image comes from NYC artist Colette Calascione's 'Rapunzel' painting. 

In an odd reversal, Rapunzel is shown as a feline hybrid, on the verge of cutting her hair. In the old fairy tales, it is her hair that enables her escape from her tower top imprisonment. Instead of choosing the life outside, she is prepared to stay where she is, in an act of defiance?

In terms of jewelry; this is an example of Victorian Mourning Jewelry. When a love one died, it was customary for their hair to be cut and made into small, woven sculptures that could be worn by the grieving left behind. This is a larger example of these sculptures, generally they were small and encased in beautiful lockets or pins, which makes me wonder how they were able to create them. I'm at once repelled and intrigued by them and would like to include them in my designs one day.

Why So Serious?

Alot of the work featured in my current show (which I will be posting about in a few days if not sooner) has been inspired by my intense love for glossy fashion magazine spreads (& the historical figures they are based on). The poses of models in photographs as well as their clothing pop up in my paintings. Earlier in life I felt conflicted with this obsession due to my literary background. I was haunted: isn't fashion soulless? Don't magazines try to dictate how I should look and feel? How I should consume products far beyond my income? However, I have become recently reconciled to this and feel that clothing and the photographs are art...as I have stumbled across such dark and lovely magazines such as  Zink, Pop and Lula which I wish wish wish came out more than 4 times a year. I have serious magazine love and handle them as one would rare plastic sheathed comic books (rubber gloves aside). They take over a large bookshelf in my studio as reference material......

Clothing designer Luella seems to be popping up everywhere, first spotted in the beloved Nylon mag. Interestingly the clothing showcases inspirations from 80's Batman graphics as well as the  admitted muse of the work, the delightful and deep film 'Ghost World'. 

Since the world has gone Bat Crazy since the release of the newest Batman film I thought it made the clothing all the more relevant in our modern day Gotham.  More of these juxtapositions of fashion and dark ideas will pop up in the work I'll start producing in the upcoming weeks.

I heart heart heart this jacket and think I'd have no problem incorporating it into my closet....
Batgirl as femme fatale? ? ? (Note: her mask popped up in my 'Nadja' painting a few posts down, although slightly altered of course.)
The boots here seem similar to the Docs I'm craving.......althou with the heel it, they seem more sophisticated. 

Bat City/ Geek Chic!