Ode to Orfeo was another one of my intitial Transfigurist images, in memory of a tropical fish I knew for a few days whom I named Orfeo. He was a variety known as the "Coral Beauty" and he really was an exquisite little fish... more charming and intelligent than any little fish has the right to be; that is, trapped in a tank and dependent on a fairly stupid human who hasn't much of a clue as to its needs. He used to watch TV with me and listen to music - at least it seemed as if he was - and play hide and seek in this huge whelk shell I'd placed in the tank. He'd hide in the depths of the shell for awhile, then peek out of the side of the opening till I called: "Oh, Orfeo..." in a sing-song sort of voice... and out he'd come, dash around for awhile and then hide in the shell again.
Then, one night Orfeo's gills became tangled in a "decorative" (deadly, apparently) sea weed, and, despite frantic efforts, he could not be saved. I was devastated. I buried him in the family burial plot next to my brother's gravestone. A few nights later I had a dream... just a snippet really... a vision of this little clown-like man peering at me from around the corner of a wall with huge smile on its face, and then vanishing. I woke up immediately and thought of Orfeo. I imagined he was saying good-bye.
The foundation for this image was an x-ray of a human skull. Overall, it can be categorized as surrealist, except for its one, genuine Transfigurative element - which might also be seen as the defining Transdimensional element - and that is the enigmatic, gold area between the mirror-imaged fish and the "bowl". A number of elements and strange patterns found themselves within this area, and in the image overall. Consciously, I'm not quite sure what I meant by the image to this day, but, my muse informs me on an unconscious level that it is exactly correct.
Ode to Orfeo was basically completed in 2008, then reformatted and re-realized in 2010. I envision it printed on a silk scroll, edged in gold thread, with some odd variety of gold tassels hanging from it.
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| Ode to Orfeo detail - added 5/28/2014 (click to enlarge) |
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Ode to Orfeo detail - added 5/28/2014
(click to enlarge)
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