Ancient Secret
Size: No Determined Size; Piece Hangs at approx. 5"9" height
Medium: Mixed Media (Tree Branches, Patterned Paper, Feathers, Wire, Wooden Sticks, Fishing String, Lights, etc.)
Date: April 2011
"And so the legend begins; a poor young villager boy goes out to venture in the woods, hoping to happen upon food or anything that can benefit his family. Ignoring his mother's warnings, he often ventures out very far with an adventurous spirit and brave intention. One day, he stumbles upon a stone monument (with nothing on it) which is also partially a chest. Asides from a double knotted rope tying it shut, nothing else is reinforcing it. However, after several attempts to cut the rope with a rusty knife, the frustrated boy walks home to ask for help. Who knows what was inside, an ancient treasure or money perhaps?
He returns with some men - all with several tools - but all were unsuccessful in getting the rope off. Mystified and somewhat spooked by this magical impossibility, they send for the village magic specialist. The wise old man is able to see into an other-worldly dimension, and saw that the actual identity of the rope was two unidentifiable demonic creatures bound to the stone chest as eternal punishment. Everytime anything in the other world attempted to remove them, pain was inflicted upon them. Upon hearing this story, the villagers decided to leave them alone and let them suffer no more.
Later, men exploring the woods never did find the monument site again, no matter which direction they walked or how hard they searched."
Coming from Buddhist parents who enjoyed teaching me and my brother life's lessons via creative stories from religion and cultural legends, the story of the magical rope has always been my favorite. While other parents may interpret and use any of these various stories differently, the main purpose of this was to teach us how to respect everything; whether living or inanimate. Emphasis went towards behaving like a decent human being and to be kind and respectful to anything around me. Taking advantage of this childhood lesson, this project was dedicated to the story.
The project consists of a pair of glowing creatures hanging in mid-air, around an array of shining lights dangling mysteriously around them. The paper choice used allowed adequate light to shine through; enough to give off a festive glow in a dark room, yet not too bright enough to take away detail from the piece. The two creatures utilize the negative space in between them; implying surrounding or wrapped around something, as if their bodies were dancing around in unison.
View of both demons.
Close-up view of the first (one of the left) demon.
Close-up view of the second demon.
