The Glory of Moth II

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The Glory of Moth II, monotype, 45 x 61 cm, 2008/9

 

 

 

 

The Glory of Moth II- detail

 

 

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The Glory of Moth B

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The Glory of Moth B, monotype, 45 x 61 cm, 2008/9

The Glory of Moth B- detail

 

The Glory of Moth B- detail

 

The Glory of Moth B- detail

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Glory of Moth A

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The Glory of Moth A, monotype, 45 x 61 cm, 2008/9

 

The Glory of Moth A - detail

This set was produced around the same time as the Fountains series. It shows imaginary moths, made using stencils.

 

 

The set relates to Magritte's The Black Flag (1937) a masterful work  featuring sinister flying machines at night.

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The Glory of Moth C

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The Glory of Moth C, monotype, 45 x 61 cm, 2008/9

 

 

 

 

The Glory of Moth C- detail 

 

 

 

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Moth

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Moth

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There are huge moths here, but this is a smaller one, soft and off-white. I found it dead on my windowsill. 

The sound of moths and night buffering against a lampshade terrifies me. I am not sure why. Perhaps it's because their movements seem so wild, so unpredictable. Maybe they seem like premonitions.

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The Forest of Dreams IV: Guardians of the Moth

The Guardians of the Moth:, above: I concieve a special guard consisting of eight such cutouts (see below).

The Forest of Dreams III: Hallowed be the Glory of Moth

Three more from the Forest of Dreams.

I realise that I revisiting ideas which I attempted to tackle with in The Kingdom of Moth.

Sometimes an idea has to incubate quietly: I'd attempted to do something related to the horror and gamour of moths before, but hadn't felt quite satisfied with the results, which were too cartoonish, overstated in their expressionism. Now the time is ripe capture the glory of moth in the language of Polish peasant cutouts and Art Noveau perversity.

Moth: tableau and materials

The mask has been worked on slightly to include further modelling of eyes and lips.

Some of the Moths have had slight additions, though they are waiting to fully dry before they recieve the main trasformative element- the addition of antennae, which will be made from the materials seen below:



This tableau ia about 60 cm across: I shall gradually work on additional elements so the final tableau is about 1.5 metres in length.

Moth, revisited

Moth as Christ, Christ as Moth

Though I shall work a little more on these pieces, I shall probably not paint them instead leaving them in a less defined state.

"Moth" is a recurring theme for me: I attempted to tackle the theme in monotype two years ago but was not satisfied with the results, then more recently visited it with paper cutouts. The results with the cutouts were nice, but they did not convey the utter horror that these creatures bring me, they were much too cartoonish. This time I intend to combine the moths with other items to make a grand, gothic tableau.

I have picked up from somewhere the idea that moths are Christ symbols: but there seems little evidence to support this as a traditional iconography. I found this, however: http://truthmarche.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/blinded-by-the-light-the-parable-of-the-moth/

I quote:

"Are we, like the huge Cecropia moth, blundering on in the darkness, oblivious to the universe which is all around us? Are we ignorant to the realities that present themselves in our everyday lives, simply because we aren’t really paying attention to what is going on around us? "

There is also, of course, Thomas Harris's magnificent "The Silence of the Lambs" (one of the cases where the film is greater than the book) where the moth is seen as a symbol of transformation through life, and between sexual conditions. These notions have a pagan ring to me, bringing to mind the Green Man, so beautifully represented in Rosslyn Chapel, Penicuik, near Edinburgh.

The Kingdom of Moth

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I`m making progress here, using the cut-outs to revist a theme I began last year but somehow couldn't really make progress on- a series of monotypes to be called Moth, a Dream.

 I'd intended to make a series of monotypes which Nick Parker would perhaps write a piece to accompany. But there's a time for everything and perhaps the time wasn't right. Or maybe I over-thought the idea. 

 Anyway, here we go again, this time a giant mobile with The Kingdom of Moth as a working title.

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