Friday, August 08, 2014

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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2 comments:

mike said...

A very clever and intellectualized artist conveying strong moral-ethical impressions and indignation! Can't help but like her and her interpretive paintings and sculptures.

I'm pleased that she chose the term "indifferentism" instead of hate:

“The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.” Elie Wiesel

You usually pamper your audience with the natal chart of the selected artist, Twilight...LOL. I looked at her solar chart on planetwatcher.com to see where Susan White gets her spunk. Her chart is all one sided...a bowl. She's about to have this weekend's full Moon oppose her Sun. She has a lot of planets in the 16*, 17*, 18*, which will be resonant with the transiting Uranus-Pluto square, particularly next year, and Pluto for the next several years. She's receiving tremendous support from transiting Jupiter in Leo.

Something peculiar will occur in her life starting in late 2015, but particularly starting January, 2016, as transiting Jupiter and the lunar Nodes aligns with her natal Venus, Nodes, and Neptune in Virgo. For several months the transiting planets oppose her natal planets. On March 8, 2016, there will be a solar eclipse at 19* Pisces, setting her on a new, complex path.

Twilight said...

mike ~ Yes, I was impressed too.
Agree with you on indifferentism.

I brought up her natal chart on my software, but thought twice about including it - as I often do when dealing with someone who is still alive (unless they are a politician or a mega-famous star of some kind and their stuff is all over the place anyway). I'm never sure whether it's ethical to exhibit such information, unasked. I guess we can comment on it between ourselves though. :-)

She's a spring/summer mix apart from Moon (probably Pisces), and a definite "bowl" shape chart, yes.

Thanks for your astrological input.