Beauty in the Dark
When you think of Halloween themed art, do you think fun and goofy or maybe dark and gothic? Do you ever think of it as beautiful? Of course, we all know that there is beauty in all kinds of art but holiday and seasonal pieces tend to be more lighthearted and lean towards fulfilling the need for family fun and entertainment or tasteful but not overly obtrusive décor. Halloween, however, is not about being unobtrusive, and although we see a lot of fun and silly things, there is always the underlying theme and the reason for the season … the observance of our connection to the dead.
Halloween, and the root of the name, comes from the Christian observance of the eve of All Saints (aka Hallows, as in hallowed people) Day which occurs on the 1st of November. In Scotland, the word for “the eve of” something is ‘even’, commonly contracted to e’en. And so the name, Halloween, is a mash up of Hallow and e’en.
Although Halloween is the day before a Christian day of observance, it was actually built upon a pagan observance, Samhain, representing the last day of they pagan calendar because, being a calendar focused on the seasonal and agricultural cycles, it was approximately the last day of harvesting, and the bounty of the year’s harvest would be celebrated. Being this was the time of year that folks turned to face the coming Winter, there was a lot of superstition surrounding the day and many came to believe it was the time when the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead was thinnest and so it made sense to consider one’s loved ones who had passed on at this time. I bring this all up to show that the origins of Halloween was one of celebration and love for family and friends lost and not born of a fear of evil or the devil as some might assume.
Halloween is definitely my favorite holiday. For one, I like that we take a day to address and symbolically stand up to our innate fear of death and darkness. Death is a part of our cycle of life and without it, how well would we appreciate the days we have? We are physiologically wired to avoid and dread death, of course, otherwise we’d not likely have survived very long as a species. (As it is, we have dummies taking ridiculous risks for selfies and adrenaline junkies just taunting the grim reaper. What we be doing if we had no fear of our demise?) But it awaits us all so why not face its existence and embrace that it makes our every moment more precious? Sorry I got a bit heavy there! Moving on …
Another reason I like Halloween is that people get so dang creative. From home decorating to lawn displays to costumes to self-adornment, this feels like the holiday that most everybody has tried their hand at creating something of their own. Craft stores, fabric stores and thrift stores are mobbed and people get excited about making their ideas a reality. I love that energy.
Another huge reason for my love of this holiday is that we see a lot more of the dark side of beauty circulating through art, fashion, and décor. There is beauty in all facets of this world of ours and the dark side is no exception. So, in the spirit of this season, let me show you some of the beauty being created on the darker side.
The Dark and Lovely Arts
When you opened this post, did you cringe or think “ew” at the sight of the skull adorned journal cover, or did you react with appreciation and a desire to take a closer look? Skulls are creepy, I’ll give you that, but it’s mostly because of what they represent. You can find similar lines and forms in plants and geological formations and those we think are amazing because they don’t remind us of our final days. I think you have to do something a bit different with a skull to get people to look beyond the symbolism so they can gain appreciation for what it actually is—the formation of bone that is the base for the human faces we know and love.
Poland’s Alexandra ClayMaiden chose a difficult, but much more interesting angle, than the standard skull, to create her bas relief sculpture on the journal cover that opens this post. The three-quarter view allows Alexandra to create flowing lines and elegant forms not usually associated with skulls as well as more of a sense of movement with it being tilted. Straight on or profile skulls look both still and, well, dead. There is a liveliness here that makes these rose adorned bones take on a marvelous splendor.
As morose as the death’s-head hawkmoth appears, the beauty of the colors and, in particular, the textures, especially in this piece by Julia Galisina, are easy to see if you ignore the skull pattern. If it weren’t for the symbolism, the look of this work would be simply a gritty beauty all about the innate color sense of mother nature as interpreted by Julia. But with the skull on the back of these moths, and one exaggerated by the artist here, this moth carries a symbol of our dreaded end, which may be hard to get past. I think the lovely detail and colors do, however pull us past that symbolism to focus on the beauty of this work. I am grateful when an artist can show us that something is more than what it symbolizes.
And of course the Raven, with it’s black plumage and scavenging ways has long been a bird people have been wary of but this time of year, it gets to share a spotlight. Edgar Allen Poe didn’t help their image, being referred to so prominently in his famous poem. Melissa Terlizzi, however, does them proud with this beautifully textured, sculptural rendition complete with a ruffled and unkempt look one often sees in wild ravens. Although head feathers are not usually so ruffled, I really like the artistic choice to make them more dimensional and heavily textured, bringing your eye to its head and onto the eye of the raven in the process.
Ok, this next artist’s work completely creeps me out but I also can’t stop looking at it. Skink Chen creates some of the most beautifully disturbing sculptures, mixing human forms with and insect and reptilian components into create highly unusual creatures that would be easily fit in any otherworldly nightmare. However, the graceful lines and delicacy in the details makes them things of beauty. They just feel like they are going to be dangerous.
Isn’t it interesting that something most people will find utterly creepy, like tentacles, especially those wrapped around your neck, can end up looking like an elegant kind of lace, simply by changing the colors to pure white? This necklace, as best as I have been able to gather, is actually part of a wedding jewelry line. Chelsea Komschlies just thought it would be popular since beach themes are so prevalent in weddings these days. I was thinking HP Lovecraft and other fantasy fans would jump on something like this for their fan based weddings, which are also popular these days. But mostly I picked this for you just to consider what one single design change–color in this case–can do to take something from purely creepy to disturbingly beautiful. Or just beautiful, for those who have a keen appreciation for sophisticated cephalopods.
Ok, so, we’re not going to get through this holiday with out at least one good laugh. Mr. Barghest takes creepy to hilarious heights with these pieces (I think they’re magnets). There is a lot of funny and even cute Halloween themed work out there but having a refined style like this brings the imagery alive. The uneven placement of teeth, the slight cross of the eyes and the antiqued texture carries the goofiness in designs that are well balanced and skillfully sculpted.
Preparing for the Hallows
So I am just back from traveling for nearly 4 weeks, which was weird because I was originally only going to be gone just over 2 weeks. It was supposed to attend 2 weddings and do some visiting with family and friends with a couple days dropping in on the house I rent out to friends there in Colorado to make a couple small repairs. But, you know … best laid plans don’t hold. The house needed a lot more than a faucet replaced plus things got slowed down when my assistant became ill so I was doing a lot more business work than expected, hence the delay in returning home. But I am here now, still without an assistant (seems to be the year of taking breaks to attend to one’s health, which is a good, if difficult thing) but getting back into the rhythm of things. I still have that darn backsplash to finish so that is on tap this week. Plus I should have a real update on the magazine and some cool news on new projects we have decided to get going on in the very near future. Still ironing a few things out so give me a couple more weeks and thank you so so much for your incredible patience with me!
While I was in Colorado, I got to hang with a couple of my favorite polymer people. Here is Christi Friesen, Debbie Crothers, and I creating our own little red hat society in one of our runs through a Denver thrift store.
The next day we saw Christi off to Tennessee then Debbie and I wandered around an area in northwest Denver dubbed RiNo (River North) and saw all this incredible stuff and more!
Oh, the beauty and laughs you can find just getting out and about!
Well, I hope you all have time to enjoy and admire a little beauty on the dark side and more than a few laughs this Halloween week. I’m off to enjoy some overdue California family time carving pumpkins and watching old holiday appropriate movies with some of the nephews before heading out to check out the creatively, and sometimes insanely, decorated haunted homes of a few of our like-minded friends. I wish you all treats and no tricks this week and tons of creative time!
