illustration from Octave Mirbeaus Torture Garden 1925
from The Torture Garden, written by Octave Mirbeau in 1899
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Works of Art.... Skull and Devil... Japan
Ivory okimono of a scull (tokotsu) entwined with a serpent, Meiji period (1868 - 1912)
worn by members of the underground dokudo (later yakuza), because they believed it brought good luck to gamblers. In the Meiji period the best-known carver of this subject was Gjokuzan.
Carved ivory netsuke signed Chiyuki 之, Japan, Meiji period, turn of the 19th century
This netsuke depicts a typical stylized devil Oni
They come from the Buddhist pantheon and appear in many folk stories. In this comical stylization the umbrella is used instead of the kanabo steel club. The eyes of the devil are made of mother-of-pearl and were inserted by the technique ji ita hamekomi.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Robert Taylor... Pen & Ink drawings and Poem...
Rose ~ pen and ink
Flower of Freya ~ Pen and Ink
The Pointillist
In the gathering indigo of evening
at the twilight of the day,
as ghosts of blue smoke be rising
from chimeys red and grey,
an ink-besmeared drawing board,
testament to lonely nights
of labor-intense endeavors
where his patient work is wrought.
The small key rolls the tumblers
of an oiled, aged lock
that opens the door to stillness.
He feels for the light switch
to vanquish the dark.
Alchemist of the stipple-pen
in his black kitchen of art,
pursuing the endless journey
from ink to pen to dot.
His hair now streaked with silver,
Myopia dims his sight.
His years in dots are measured,
subtracting from his life...
In the gathering indigo of evening
at the twilight of the day,
as ghosts of blue smoke be rising
from chimeys red and grey,
an ink-besmeared drawing board,
testament to lonely nights
of labor-intense endeavors
where his patient work is wrought.
The small key rolls the tumblers
of an oiled, aged lock
that opens the door to stillness.
He feels for the light switch
to vanquish the dark.
Alchemist of the stipple-pen
in his black kitchen of art,
pursuing the endless journey
from ink to pen to dot.
His hair now streaked with silver,
Myopia dims his sight.
His years in dots are measured,
subtracting from his life...
more wonders here at the Red Salon
Winners of 500,000 mark giveaway!
Many thanks to all who put their name in the hat and for the lovely feeback! :) much appreciated! Congratulations to Baasma Parvi who gets the print and Peter Dyde who gets the book. Enjoy!
Love
D
x
Rosaleen Norton... At home... drawing...
Rosaleen Norton aged 5
"At Home" from the Art of Rosaleen Norton
...she writes that Kundalini 'sometimes assumes the shape
of a serpent' and is 'my most powerful Familiar'...
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
Sunday, October 9, 2011
The Cabinet of the Solar Plexus...New Work & freebies...
Dear Visitors,
To mark the occassion of 500,000 hits on the blog today, i will be giving away a print of my new works and a book by Unica Zurn who was the inspiration for the name of this blog. Many thanks to all the muses, those who visit and to the many with messages of support which keep me inspired! it is very much appreciated!
In Love and Light
Dolorosa
♥!
Names will be picked out of a magick hat! ;) send e-mails with name to me at
mariadolorosadelacruz@dublin.com
click on image to enlarge
Untitled Watercolour 2011~ Dolorosa a limited edition of 4, A5 size with 1 inch border printed on Hahnemühle FineArt paper
Unica Zürn’s “Dark Spring” is a haunting story about the debilitating confusion a twelve year old can experience when confronted with gender awareness, sexuality and abuse. This particular work is semi-autobiographical and eerily foreshadows the writer’s own suicide by defenestration. A German Surrealist, Zürn was a writer, an artist, and the prototype for Hans Bellmer’s infamous poupée. Although Zürn’s ink drawings are some of the most striking images to evoke the nightmarish figures of a disturbed mind, her writings are even more telling in their descriptions of the mind’s inner workings and how it fares when imprisoned by its own hallucinations. Institutionalized several times throughout her life, Zürn’s work is replete with reflections on mental illness. Even within a state of clinical madness, she is capable of writing about madness as though it were something she were observing, empathizing with it rather than being subjected to it. Zürn reassures her reader she is aware of her craziness, her delusional fabrications, and that she knows there is beauty in this unique state of being. Everything is treated with the same weight, from hallucinations to concrete reality; they are all authentic experiences in the eyes of Zürn.
With the androgynous mind of Coleridge, the incandescent and resonant voice of Woolf, the asexual beauty of a Steiglitz portrait of Georgia O’Keefe, Zürn is the artist who embodies elements of the Two made into One. Layered and multifaceted with androgynous motifs, Zürn’s work speaks with a voice more outspoken and sublime than one may realize at first glance. She annihilates and amalgamates states of being, each treated with as much authenticity as the next; experience seen through the eyes of the many faces of Unica is both feminine and masculine.
from a very good review HERE
Saturday, October 8, 2011
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