2017 - 2018 | 100 x 100 cm | 39.3" x 39.3" (including frame) | oil on canvas | bead embroidered dress by Alexander McQueen
2019 | oil on wood
2017 - 2018 | 100 x 100 cm | 39.3" x 39.3" (including frame) | oil on canvas | bead embroidered dress by Alexander McQueen
THE VOICE OF THE YOUTHFUL BARD
2017 - 2018 | oil on canvas
Youth of delight come hither.
And see the opening morn,
Image of truth new born.
Doubt is fled & clouds of reason
Dark disputes & artful teazing.
Folly is an endless maze,
Tangled roots perplex her ways.
How many have fallen there!
They stumble all night over bones of the dead
And feel they know not what but care;
And wish to lead others when they should be led.
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The meaning of this painting changed in the course of it's creation. The subject remained the same.
Intended to showcase the achievement of universal truth under the title 'Sin' the foolishness behind this thought swiftly exposed itself and turned the work into a sign of folly.
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The painting The World is in the center of it's counterpart
2017 - 2018 | oil on canvas | bead embroidered dress by Alexander McQueen
The painting The World is in the center of it's counterpart
Hints on female puberty combined with the pomegranate, serving here as the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil - the biblical sign of the fall of man - remind of false morals of ancient days declaring development and corporeality as the sin that leads into ones doom. The dress with it's symbolic language supports the painting's true meaning as a depiction of the mystical figure of the Anima Mundi. The final title was picked after William Blake's poem The Voice of the Ancient Bard. The poem depicts the folly of the ones believing to be in possession of the knowledge of good while being mislead and thus misleading others. ​
The painting's counterpart The World is a small scale depiction of an opened pomegranate, serving as a center piece in front of or opposite to the major work.
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The model is wearing a bead embroidered chiffon dress from the
Alexander McQueen Fall/Winter 2017 collection. In the spirit of the collection the gown is embroidered with alchemical symbols such as locks, celestial bodies, animals and trees.