Sophocles: Oedipus in Colonos
Oedipus: Ho, friends! ye will not surely play me false? Chase this ungodly villain from your land.
Chorus: Hence, stranger, hence avaunt! Thou doest wrong in this, and wrong in all that thou hast done.
Creon to his guards: ‘Tis time by force to carry off the girl, if she refuse of her free will to go.
Nice forms. Have you been reading this over christmas?
The idea of still life objects as actors comes from the Matisse in his studio exhibition in the autumn. I am doing no outdoors drawing as my cycling/walking time has been taken over by walking the dog who must be watched constantly off the lead lest he strays. So I cleared out the study to serve more as a studio, in which to develop some of the ideas on still life. In the process I found a box of ornate chess pieces, a past gift from my sister. I started drawing these as actors on a stage. During this I chanced to be listening to Sophocles’ Oedipus /Antigone trilogy on Audible. On New Years Eve, I painted the abstract actors’ forms over the composition of kingfisher pawns from the chess set.
I think you may have missed your calling as a set/costume designer. I’m a big reader, love films and watching dance, but can’t seem to connect any of this to my art, so this series is intriguing for me
Mythology is always a good place to start the year…(K)