For those of you who are not able to come to Vancouver, British Columbia, I've put together a preview to showcase my tiny exhibition. I've split it into 2 separate blog posts to minimize image loading times.
The pieces shown here were displayed at the Circle Craft Gallery on Granville Island in July 2021.
"An Equine Muse: Flying Solo"
The story of Pegasus, the winged horse of Greek mythology, is closely woven with that of the Muses, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. In many ways, the legend of Pegasus mirrors the journey of the artist: from the birth and freedom of creation, to the taming of ideas which give way to the pitfalls of arrogance. In the end, perhaps fate decides whether the mark of the artist remains, maybe even written in the stars.
In this series of mixed-media sculptures, I invokes the rich iconography of this popular symbol and explores the challenges and elation found in unleashing your creative potential, and the strength of character required to balance the ego and rein-in vanity. Pegasus stands in the nexus between inspiration, the formative idea, and the artist’s own internal struggle to bring their creative ideas to fruition.
1. "From Blood, Wings"
The Gorgon was a beautiful woman with a head of snakes said to turn men into stone (the ancient Greeks were subtle, eh?). She was decapitated by Perseus who used a mirrored shield so as not to look at her directly.
Pegasus is born from the blood of the slain Gorgon.
2. "A Sip From Hippocrene"
In Greek mythology, Hippocrene was a spring on Mt. Helicon. It was sacred to the Muses and formed by the hooves of Pegasus. Its name literally translates as "Horse's Fountain" and the water was supposed to bring forth poetic inspiration when imbibed.
3. "Bridled Victory"
Using a golden bridle given to him by the goddess Athena, the Greek hero Bellerephon tames Pegasus. They then kill the dreaded Chimera; a creature with 3 heads that was terrorizing the city of Lycia.
"Bridled Victory" maquette
A small version of the larger sculpture above. This piece was created to figure out the engineering required to balance this composition on a larger scale.
What's Next?
See the rest of the exhibition