The Orb and the Octopus: Pen and Ink Drawings
Artist Statement
The ever present orb shape of the octopus appeals to the ideas of the mystery and continuation of life. Round, confining, whole, they complete a journey from start to finish. Orbs confine life and create it. I see the orb as a symbol of both the beginning and end of a journey. At the very core of living orbs are the building blocks that create us, from the atoms that make up our structures, to the eggs that give us entrance, to the planet that the Orb and the Octopuses exists in.
For me, the octopus is also a symbol of mystery. Eight boneless arms, two huge eyes and a mind that loves to solve puzzles. They can fit into almost any space, shoot ink, move in many different ways, change color, “glow” and morph into different shapes to take of the form of other sea creatures.
It is with these two ideas in mind that I present the octopus as a commentary of the psychological aspects that make a "human" identity. Of what makes us "whole" as living beings. Traveling the gamut of The Id, Ego and Super Ego, I picture the octopus seeing the world with limitations, creating restraints on objects and ideas, using knowledge to destroy mystery and magic, and taking on the characteristics of drive and determination usually only found or detected in the human psyche. By taking on a sense of self the octopus attempts to define our reason for being and the sometimes complex intricacies of understanding ourselves as sentient and mortal beings. In this way the Octopus takes on the complex nature of the Id, or the Ego and in acting out the journey and trials of human existence helps to define life in its whole, orb like nature.
The ever present orb shape of the octopus appeals to the ideas of the mystery and continuation of life. Round, confining, whole, they complete a journey from start to finish. Orbs confine life and create it. I see the orb as a symbol of both the beginning and end of a journey. At the very core of living orbs are the building blocks that create us, from the atoms that make up our structures, to the eggs that give us entrance, to the planet that the Orb and the Octopuses exists in.
For me, the octopus is also a symbol of mystery. Eight boneless arms, two huge eyes and a mind that loves to solve puzzles. They can fit into almost any space, shoot ink, move in many different ways, change color, “glow” and morph into different shapes to take of the form of other sea creatures.
It is with these two ideas in mind that I present the octopus as a commentary of the psychological aspects that make a "human" identity. Of what makes us "whole" as living beings. Traveling the gamut of The Id, Ego and Super Ego, I picture the octopus seeing the world with limitations, creating restraints on objects and ideas, using knowledge to destroy mystery and magic, and taking on the characteristics of drive and determination usually only found or detected in the human psyche. By taking on a sense of self the octopus attempts to define our reason for being and the sometimes complex intricacies of understanding ourselves as sentient and mortal beings. In this way the Octopus takes on the complex nature of the Id, or the Ego and in acting out the journey and trials of human existence helps to define life in its whole, orb like nature.