Vision Quest

I have just finished a silk painting that I began nearly two years ago. I estimated it would take maybe three weeks to finish. I re-started around May 1st, Bealtaine, the Celtic fire festival of fertility and purification. It took more than six weeks to complete. I finished it at Midsummer, the summer solstice. Throughout the process I was unclear as to what the painting was really about.

The purpose of this blog post is to attempt to tease out some meaning for myself!

Witchcraft of some sort seemed to be a theme. Then one day  after I’d been painting it for a week my daughter commented that the woman appeared to be burning, a witch burning, perhaps? I had not seen that.  Curious. While it does on first glance appear to be a woman at the stake, closer examination reveals that the woman is smiling and is not bound to the tree behind her, but seems almost to be part of it. Secondly, the flames appear to be the hair of the man(?) and the bottom of the picture. The image seems to me to be as paradoxical as

Vision Quest copyright Barbara Dunne 2016

the Tarot image The Hanged Man!

To the left of the woman is a snowy owl, an d to the right a full moon, which appears to have a fetus floating on it’s surface.

Vision Quest detail Copyright Barbara Dunne 2016

Vision Quest detail Copyright Barbara Dunne 2016

Symbols.

The work seems highly symbolic to me. Both the owl and the fetus have appeared in some of my earlier work, and I was curious and pleased to see them both re-appear in this painting. I suppose they refer to the unconscious; moon, internal wisdom;owl and new beginnings and creativity; fetus.

The paradoxical nature of the central image, to me is the woman dancing around the fire, celebrating. Between her legs, the fire merges with her monthly menstrual flow.She is naked not simply to identify with Nature but perhaps she is no longer afraid of revealing her true self to the world. No longer afraid and hiding from persecutors, past and present. In the past she was burned at the stake because of the wild imagination and fear of men,(symbolized by the fire). Fear of her power and fear of her sexuality.  Now she is free to dance, move, create and manifest and be herself. She is now in command of the fire and uses it to create and to burn away fear and illusion. But, the ambiguous nature of the image suggests to me that it is important to recognise that this threat  still exists and to guard against complacency.

Circus portrait: Harlequin

This is a work I began a week before Christmas and finished it on Christmas Eve, just in time to wrap and put it under the tree. I’m so glad I chose acrylic for this one…otherwise it would still be wet on Christmas morning!

I took my inspiration from my daughter who is a member of a community circus. She was performing a circus piece as part of a trio and I snapped a photo of them mid-performance.Originally, I began work on a trio of figures in oil. However, it was taking too long to dry and I felt stuck in how to resolve some lighting issues.

I brought my painting to my local arts group for critique. A very helpful suggestion was made that I start a new painting only using a detailed from the original.

This idea I took on with relish and began a this new painting in acrylics.I began by drawing out a detailed sketch onto a prepared canvas. I did some research on Chiaroscuro   the Italian method of light and dark. I began adding a black background from the start.

Looking at it now I can see the Italian influence in the ruff and the reference to Comedia dell’arte

character Arlechinno, better know to us as Harlequin. Harlequin is easily identifiable by his diamond patterned costume. Harlequin has been popular since the sixteenth century.Originally, is a trickster, he became a faithful servant and then lover who runs away with Columbine. In popular culture s/he has become Harley Quinn, a super-villain in DC Comics. One aspect of Harlequin that has remained constant is the diamond shaped pattern on his/her costume.  If you would like to know more about the Comedia dell’arte then check out this website Harlequin

I am still exploring chiaroscuro  in my original painting in this series.I have returned to my first painting in this series with renewed enthusiasm.

Harlequin has allowed me time to take a break from the oil, while still exploring the theme in a different medium and perspective.

The healing power of Blankets and other musings

Granny square blanket 2016

When does a functional item become a piece of art, or something with magical healing properties, or both?

This is the question I pose to myself as an artist. I have been making blankets periodically for more than ten years. Some as gifts, but mostly for my family. I employ a variety of materials and techniques. I have crocheted, quilted, embroidered and appliqued many blankets.

I suppose it’s the intention behind making a blanket that could infuse it potentially with healing powers.  In the months following the death of the father of my children, I began to crochet as a way to work my way through my grief. I became almost obsessive with crocheting flowers. A year and a half after his death and needing a new crochet challenge I began crocheting a granny square blanket for my youngest daughter, who was struggling with anger, grief and a sense of abandonment. It didn’t start out that way, though. It began as an experiment to see if I could learn a new crochet skill one Saturday afternoon with a You Tube tutorial.

What began as an experimental granny square soon began to grow, and grow and grow. As I crocheted, I began to conceive of the  purpose of the work. My youngest daughter’s birthday was a couple of months away. For months now she had been struggling with overwhelming emotions, we both were. I felt that a blanket made with the intention of healing might afford her some comfort.

It was not my first experiment with healing blankets. Before my youngest was born, I had quilted a blanket with the names of my other two children on it as a way of bonding them together, both literally and emotionally.

In the work of Joseph Beuys, the idea of art having a healing effect on both the audience and the artist is apparent.After crashing in Crimea in1943, the local Tartars wrapped him in fat and felt. This shamanic healing experience helped shape his idea of what art could be. He used fat and felt as a metaphor for transformation and healing, for both himself and society. If you wish to know more about Joseph Beuys and his art then click here here.

What do I see as the healing potential in the blankets I make?

Comfort, ease and release of distressing emotions, which in turn leads to the ability to move on. When one feels safe, one can release trauma. The wrapping up, the covering the protection, both physical and emotional, afforded by the blankets allow one to feel safe. Like the caterpillar in the chrysalis, being wrapped in the blanket allows for transformation on a cellular level.

As for my daughter, she has her blanket still under her every night. She has made it through that dark time, and that blanket offered her comfort and relief. The acknowledgement that she was going through a tough time allowed her emotions to be seen and heard and therein lies the path to transformation.