I decided to create this online "lookbook" as a way to analyse my own art and take others on the journey with me. I will select some works I have thoughts about and share them here.
This work titled "Lucifer" (2022) (100 cm x 150 cm) is quite self-explanatory in its subject given its title. It depicts the archetypal figure of the ultimate rebel, the rebel against goodness. As God, in religious terms, is in my interpretation a personification of what a monotheistic culture deems good.
His posture reflects that of Christ in the crucifixion, which was not, as far as I remember, a conscious decision. I had to be pointed to it by an observer. This aspect is perfect for the image, though, as it creates a rhyming contrast between it's opposite. Instead of the posture reflecting the powerlessness and humiliation Christ endured by being nailed to the cross, this figure's posture exudes power and threat.
The face resembles a skull or mask with tentacle-like outgrowths. The look in his eyes is hollow (perhaps unintentionally melancholic). The golden geometric halo helps contextualize this figure as the antichrist. The shape mimics horns and the geometric complexity refers to Pythagoras and the concept of sacred geometry, which at its core is a part of a larger age-old motif of esoteric groups of initiated members searching for the 'secrets of the universe.' The motivation for the search being, for the purposes of this artwork, entirely for the satisfaction of personal egos.
The figure is naked. I contemplated making his phallus erect, further emphasizing the desire to inflict something towards something outside itself. Though, after being pictured with the work with family members, I can't say I regret not doing this.
For this image, it was essential for me to convey a sense of compensation. A figure accumulating various tools, items, powers to emphasize its control over its surroundings. The person who he's truly attempting to convince of his powers is ultimately himself, though. As it cannot ever logically take the place of God, yet that is it's eternal mission.
As God and christ are symbols of perfection and unity, lucifer tries to draw energy from whatever external source it can to mimic this unity and perfection. This makes it, however, not a creator of power, but a parasite on it.
