P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell

It is summer, so it is yard art time! And I have been dwelling on ancient Egyptian art and Egyptian mythology. My effort to make a Horus stylized falcon was derailed by my own incompetence. But another Egyptian concept appeals to me. A few days ago I saw that an old Styrofoam and plaster head could easily be recycled, and my new art project was born. I decided it is time for a Sphinx, with this head serving as part of the armature. I will transform it into something more durable.

OK, I understand that the famous “Sphinx” of Giza may not be a Sphinx at all. As best I understand, the name Sphinx originated with the Greeks, many centuries after the carved stone creature of the Egyptian desert. The Egyptian “Sphinx” that we think of was cut in situ from “living” stone, probably over many years, and probably commemorates a god as embodied in a specific pharaoh. It is considered to have a male head, and to wear the traditional headdress (menes) and the cobra (uraeus) of the pharaohs.

The ancient Greeks described the Sphinx as a single fantastic winged creature with the body of a lion and the head of a woman. The Sphinx was presumably a creature to avoid! However I model my new artwork on the ancient Egyptian stone stature in Giza, so no wings. I still say that it is time for a Sphinx!

Now is the time for an Egyptian Sphinx in my yard. And it is time to work larger. My Sphinx will be 4-5′ long and about 2.5′ high at the head. The plan is for ferrocement, once the initial cardboard armature is complete I will wrap this with wire mesh. It will be large and heavy!

https://www.wonders-of-the-world.net/Pyramids-of-Egypt/Great-Sphinx.php

Sometimes artists just want to have fun! And it is that time for me. I am making silly fun things currently! Making my “mocktails” is totally frivolous: and I enjoy this as fine fun summery project. In a new work I embedded translucent beach pebbles in clear epoxy to make a lighted circle. This is an experiment that could lead to a more serious project, one that is just a wisp of concept. Or then again it may not. Instead I may just make several light fixtures, TBD.

Here you see “Stars in Margaritaville”, both sides of my first circle of stones, and “Not your Mother’s Manhattan”. Fun?

I think I am reacting to the artworks that I completed earlier this year. Making art can be difficult, and sometimes artists just want to have fun.

This year I completed two difficult projects, and it is a relief to be finished with them. These were wonderful but also painful to produce. The subjects of the artworks are disturbing, the topics uncomfortable to consider. I worked with new techniques, and I followed so many steps requiring care and attention. Both pieces are actually triptychs: they each have three parts. So in effect I made six artworks, each very time consuming to complete.

Also I don’t know if my two serious triptychs “work”. By “work” I mean that I don’t know if viewers would be attracted by them. Also would viewers understand and consider the topics the works refer to? Or would they be so disturbed by the references that they will just want to look away?

I may never know, because these pieces may never be displayed. I don’t really know how to find a venue. And I don’t try very hard to show my work. I make a little effort, get no results, and give up… sad!

Anyway I know that I was exhausted and emotionally drained. Now I just want to have fun!

The final panel of this three part work is startng to come together! My third panel, Oceans Rising for The Struggle to Rise triptych, now has a theme and a plan for how I will finish the base panel. My “beach babe” cyborg figure will soon have a home base.

I have chosen a different primary image to apply to the panel, but I will use the same concept and parts that I was already playing with: ocean shoreline, wire waves, pieces of glass, etc.

The new primary image is of sky, a house and phone lines reflected in a murky puddle. This image is soft and vague, so the figure will be the main focus of the work, and the interpretation of the imagery does not hit you all in a single glance. Instead the viewer needs to take a little time to explore and recognize all the parts in order to fully understand the story.

Now figure 3 for Struggles to Rise is well under way, and maybe almost complete, TBD. Currently I like leaving the wire visible more or less as is, and the head open/incomplete. But that could certainly change! It normally takes me some time to decide when a piece that I am working on is finished, or needs more work. Or even sometimes “less”, and I need to remove or disassemble a bit.

So it is important for me to stop and sit with the work as I proceed, to see how it works. And with a complex work progressing in parts, the individual piece may seem just right, but may not work when considered in place with the other parts. The emphasis has to be on the artwork as a whole!

Here are photos of Figure 3 yesterday (the first two photos) and three from today: