This is my favorite of the three 2001 portfolio pieces. The aura of mystery alone sustains it.
The front cover initiates the portfolio. It is very presentation oriented and uncomfortably intimate. The table of contents, still presentational, is focused on organized content. This is the end of the portfolio, or even further after the end. The portfolio is finished and these are the last visual echoes of its passing.
The fire of inspiration has been extinguished and the plumes of smoke evaporate into the night sky. Here the hand of the artist is retreating, fading into the night of clouds. The portfolio has been presented and the hand now moves away, leaving you to think on what you have observed. The image block of the moon has lost its glow and become transparent, its contrast and intensity diminished. It is being absorbed now by the sky.
This piece is best observed while listening to Cocteau Twins or Dead Can Dance. I recommend Victorialand or Within the Realm of a Dying Sun, respectively. I know this is all pretentious and silly, but once in awhile there are those images that move beyond mere representation and step into the mythic, the symbolic. I am very grateful to have had this image move through me. Pretentious or not, the mystery within this piece moves me.
Like the preceding pieces from my 2001 portfolio, this was scanned from a physical copy. This one had many touches up as well and also was sadly lost to The Hunger of the Zip Disks.
{digital images manipulated in Photoshop}
3 comments:
Neat back story to a back-cover image.
i like this a lot. it's got a mystical affect to it that says a goodbye but also leads you to believe there will be more to come in the future and it makes you want to know what lies in the darkness that surrounds the hands, the darkness that lingers in the mind of the artist. i like your description of it as well; of fire being extinguished and smoke evaporating into the sky, it's a beautiful thought and metaphor and fits this image perfectly :D
This is one of those that I get a little misty eyed when I remember that the original photoshop file is gone forever. It makes me want to print a copy of everything I do from now until eternity...especially considering my recent travails with my dead laptop. Ugh. Sniff.
Thank you for the kind words as well. I'm trying to make my posts interesting reads at least because sometimes I feel like my imagery gets a bit repetitive...especially on sets of posts like the ones from this portfolio. That and I don't really have the time or opportunity to write poetry like I used to, so it has to come out somewhere I guess. :-P
Also - I just thought of another musical piece for this one -
Tim Story LUNZ
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