Symbols mean a lot of things to a lot of people..some symbols vary greatly in their significance. Take a black cat...I was brought up with the notion that if a black cat walked in front of you, it meant good luck...but in Italy, it's a white cat that brings good luck...a black one is bad! I often use symbols in my artwork...they're nothing to do with luck.I use them as all artists do to encapsulate a concept or an emphasis which adds resonance to a composition.Sometimes they have meaning for me alone. The symbols I have opted for here are open to your own interpretation but here are mine...sort of!
The Butterfly...For me it is used to symbolise great beauty but vulnerability...in this instance it's a Peacock butterfly, a peacock usually symbolises conceit and vanity, but it also has eyes that look and accuse...they accuse the conscience prompting guilt.
The Space Shuttle...Arguably man's greatest technological machinery, the DNA double helix and the shuttle symbolise the progress that science can bring to humanity..the quest for the stars..the conquest of inner space.
The Black Widow...I admit it, I have a phobia of spiders...they scare me, they affect me.Did you know(of course you do, all my readers are much more intelligent than I am!) the female spider once it has mated with the male then devours him (unless he can run away that is!)..to provide nourishment for the formation of the young.
The Bumble Bee...It really, aerodynamically shouldn't be able to fly, but it does!..This symbolises aspiration, as I depict in my chess picture 'PWM', the only limitations on what we can achieve is ourselves.
The Skull...Ok, so I did mention that death is the ultimate joke on the artist, but it also is a reminder that we are mortal....it is never right to think of one's self as being of any more value than anyone else....for we are all priceless.
The rest of the picture is populated with many other symbols. If I chatted to you at Wirksworth earlier in the month, you'll know some of them. I'm often keen to tell people what my pictures contain, but I'm also very aware that some of my viewers like to formulate their own meanings...and I love that.
Jigsaw is now finished. I'll publish a photo of the complete piece tomorrow because it's dark here now...I want to photograph it in the daylight.
I am now going to drink a bottle of wine!
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2 comments:
A bottle of wine? Oh dear...
I'm afraid cats don't bring good luck here, not even the white cats, but the black cats yes, bad luck.
It was great seeing the symbols and finding out what they mean to you. even the spiders.
DM...There are possibly more interpretations I can use for the said symbols.I just love the fact that each day, a different aspect and emphaisis can be had.
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