Arty Farty Friday ~ Susan Dorothea White's Seven Deadlies

Australian painter and sculptor Susan Dorothea White (born 10 August 1941), among her many and varied paintings and sculptures created two items I found especially intriguing: artwork painted on wooden table tops. Ms White's work, in general depicts the natural world and human situation, sometimes satire and irony are used to convey concern for human rights and equality. Her own website is HERE. (The website was experiencing difficulty yesterday).

I'm featuring just the two unique and insightful pieces which immediately demanded my attention, as a taster:

She explains:

The idea to paint both The Seven Deadly Isms and The Seven Deadly Sins of Modern Times, came from Bosch's circular painting on a tabletop The Seven Deadly Sins. I was struck by the novelty of viewing a painting by walking around its circumference, rather than standing before it. To paint a continuous, circular composition with interconnecting narratives was a challenge and an alternative to compositions with a single static viewpoint, limited by four sides. Instead of the enormous eye of God used by Bosch, I chose to enlarge he iris of our pet cat to represent Gaia, the goddess of the universe.

Her Seven Deadly Isms are:
Fascism
Racism
Sexism
Dogmatism
Indifferentism
Materialism
Vandalism

Ideally, see the large image here. This small version cannot show sufficient detail. (If website is still unavailable see HERE)

"Each ism has its own deadly Australian creature. In Dogmatism, a crocodile is about to snap up the missionary. Dogmatism merges into Racism, where my Aboriginal friend is taken away from her mother, forever. The deadly sea wasp (box jellyfish) hovers illogically in the sky near a youth, who is hanging from a rope, representing the tragic Aboriginal deaths in custody. A shark seemed appropriate for Materialism, and a blue-ringed octopus complements the oil slick in environmental Vandalism.

The colours of the red-back spider fitted Fascism. In Sexism, women struggle to unroll a giant scroll listing names of famous women, while I am painting a deadly taipan. Marilyn Monroe bearing the cross symbolises the suffering of women as sex objects. Indifferentism shows people oblivious to the suffering around them; the funnel web spider seemed appropriate since it lurks in our comfortable suburbs."
(Susan D White).

The Seven Deadly Sins of Modern Times

I reversed the traditional sins, replacing each with its antonym because the opposite extremes are just as "deadly". A noxious species, introduced to Australia, symbolises each "sin". I developed a perspective based on concentric circles for this painting, and for the block-print with the same title.

Indifference
Self-effacement
Celibacy
Workaholism
Dieting
Squandering
Sucking-up

See large image here for full detail. If website is unavailable click on image for a slightly bigger version.

Ms White's choices of -isms and sins are apt and thought provoking. The artwork "just right" for the subject too.


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