Gods

(Original blog text) I am so proud of this project. I spent a lot of time and energy into making the costumes, headpieces, and backdrops. I made (almost) everything you see on the models using wire, recycled jewelry, and other craft items.

This was my final project for my conceptual class and my final project at the Academy of Art so I wanted to go out with a bang and I really think I achieved what I wanted and more.

Each deity has two photos and four polaroids.

4/6/2016 I've rewritten problematic language and representation that was present in this work. When I originally published this series, I lacked a deeper understanding of inherent issues regarding language and (mis)representation, of my privilege, of my place as an artist, and what it means to tell the stories of others, even if they are fictional. The writings accompanying the photos in this series were riddled with archaic ideas of gender and sex binaries, assuming the form of clumsy mimics of what I thought was a ~classic mythology~ tone. I blindly rewrote tired cliches and mythologies. And though, at the time, I specifically chose to present women and people of color in what I thought was an empowering way, and actively chose to not present white maleness, I still failed in many ways. I failed by not understanding that perspectives and stories exist, and hold more richness, truth, validity, and value written and created by those I wanted to display. I realized, by trying to create mythology that was more inclusive and diverse, I was painting with broad strokes. I am lucky to have had such incredible models to collaborate with for this project, who were kind enough to allow me to weave a narrative with their images and likenesses. And I still take pride in this series, but I've felt a pressing weight to acknowledge the blatant misrepresentations I created; to correct and remove, to the best of my ability, the imperialistic, western, patriarchal, racist, and misogynistic presence in this work. And I will continue to do so in my work, in my life, and in my self. I'm not asking for validation or approval. I'm not asking to be commended for my efforts. As a person who possesses white-passing privileges and male privileges, it is my duty (and the duty of people who possess similar positions of privilege) to be aware of the impact that our representations of others have. To acknowledge that our privileged places in society grant us, and our art, more and easier access and acceptance. And to promote and amplify voices different from our own.

So here are some titles to enjoy by various incredible artists who are creating their own representations:
salt. by Nayyirah Waheed

http://www.amazon.com/salt-Nayyirah-Waheed/dp/1492238287

bone by Yrsa Daley-Ward

http://www.amazon.com/bone-Yrsa-Daley-Ward/dp/1499170718

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur
http://www.amazon.com/Milk-Honey-Rupi-Kaur/dp/144947425X

The Anatomy of Being by Shinji Moon
http://www.amazon.com/The-Anatomy-Being-Shinji-Moon/dp/1300631759

There was a time of gods. Places where titanous forces met in volcanic explosions, creating new life and new land on Earth, raining down from the heavens. These gods were not those resembling any human form, they were concepts of change, monstrous catalysts that shaped the face of the earth: destruction, creation, and expansion. As we began to blossom onto the face of the planet, these gods began to assume human form, taking from our faults, needs, and wants, each ideas that are rooted deep within us.
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There is Arreat

Arreat is power, creation. He with fingers pulled the earth to tips. And with palms pushed the deepest of valleys. He is what pushes us, too. He is our fire, our strength. Our loyalty and passion. He is movement and roots.
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There is Himé 

Himé is will. She posseses within her, core, molten. We have, in trying to achieve her grandeur have failed in ways of greed. Mistaken her abundance for wealth. Taken her honesty as vanity. Her complexity as facade. Her intelligence as arrogance. She with ease holds tight the chain link of space. With her hands, she weaves the fabrics of ether, from dust to light. From chaos to order.
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There is Flora

Flora brings new life to fruition and gives old souls back to the earth to be recycled, forever nourishing the planet and the life on it. Flora is the flowers in spring, the maggots in the corpses, birth, the rooting trees. She is change, she is nourish. She is life. One of the eldest gods, she was one of the main forces that pushed Earth to spin. 

There is Pherra

Pherra is wild. She is chaos and quickness. Protector and entropy. Without her, there would be no push. There would be no balance, and no death. She is inevitability. She is uncertainty. Through her careful actions, she steers the endless possibilities like ships gliding on fog. Ever-present.


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ORIGINAL TEXT

There was a time of gods. Places where titanous forces met in volcanic explosions, creating new life and new land on Earth, raining down from the heavens. These gods were not those resembling any human form, they were concepts of change, monstrous catalysts that shaped the face of the earth: destruction, creation, and expansion. As man and woman began to blossom on the face of the planet, these gods began to assume human form, taking from our faults and needs and wants, each ideas that are rooted deep within us.

There is Arreat, the god of war.

Arreat thirsts for blood, for carnage, creation through destruction. Ordained with the sacred purpose of survival and conquering. Arreat is man’s most basic sense of violence and bloodshed. He is what pushes man to survive, to kill, to push forward as a species. 

There is Himé, the goddess of wealth.

Himé, bathed in an abundance of riches and gold, craves more. She pulls man towards excess with greed’s siren song and traps them in a cycle of despair. Buddhists refer to Himé as the root of all human suffering. She is intoxicating and desirable. Her forces have toppled empires. They cause thievery, murder, and deception. She embodies internal conflict. 

There is Flora, the goddess of fertility.

Flora brings new life to fruition and gives old souls back to the earth to be recycled, forever nourishing the planet and the life on it. Flora is the flowers in spring, the maggots in the corpse, the baby being born, the rooting trees. She is change, desire, sex, reproduction. She is life. One of the eldest gods, she was one of the main forces that pushed Earth to spin. 

There is Pherra, the goddess of the hunt. 

The Divinity of the Forest II

So for my color final I decided to expand on my previous series.

I wrote this while still warm from the sun and hiking all day:

I've been to a place of lore. A place where the golden warmth bursts through a layer of cold and fog, its light shining down from the immeasurable heavens. A place with ravines and hooting owls. A place with running streams, the waters cold and reminiscent of the silver city. Travel to the east and you'll find me. Lost in myself. Lost in the notions and delusions of grandeur. Lost in the unending wild where I am nothing. I am there, memorializing the beauty of freedom and the vastness of leaves and dirt that lies before me for those to come. I come with alchemy and electricity to tell the world about the palatial trunks and chandeliers of vines and birds. Nature's beauty is the soul's fountain of youth. With each step the woods engulf my doubts and my worries. Powerful titans roam these places, forces of change and existence that constantly keep the forest breathing and growing. The illusion that I am a ghost in the machine is shattered and my roots grow stronger. Being human gives us a great responsibility, the power to protect and understand the world around us. We must not forget that we are her children and that we work together. Within each of us is the power and energy bestowed upon us by those before and borrowed from those to come. Our uniqueness is our specialty, we are chameleons by nature. We are a universe created by the universe to observe itself.

Recently I developed two rolls of film myself in my room. It's the first time I've developed my own film in about 3 years. They came out underdeveloped because of some misstep in the process but I actually really like the results. I like the photos more than if I had just gotten them developed at a photo lab and done it correctly. Something about doing it yourself is so satisfying it's completely worth it.