Kleksograph: Online Magazine Devoted to Art and Poetry Exploring the Subconscious

Thrilled to have my painting accepted into the second edition of Kleksograph

I came across this very cool and very niche magazine online called Kleksograph which I immediately fell in love with. Not only is the magazine called “Kleksograph” and kleksography is the process of creating images using inkblots (which is what I’ve been exploring in the Animal in Me series) but it’s also full of gorgeous poetry and art that centers around the subconscious and subjectivity.

Surely every work of art is informed by the subconscious? True, but most artists would contend that their work is mainly the result of conscious, rational decisions. Some writers though, draw their ideas from dreams. Franz Kafka, for example. The Klecksograph seeks to explore and celebrate art where the membrane between it and the subconscious is at its thinnest.

— Peter Van Belle

I was absolutely thrilled when I submitted Kissed Cracked Killed Clipped and got accepted into the second edition of The Kleksograph. The oil painting (featured below) was based on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice and gets its title from a play I saw with a dear friend called “The Mask of Orpheus” written by Harrison Birtwistle and performed at the English National Opera. A line from the play that transfixed me was as Orpheus was lamenting the loss of Eurydice to the underworld. It forms the title of the painting: Kissed Cracked Killed Clipped. The voice of the performer as he said the lines was haunting and full of soul. I’ll never forget it! It was an epic and surreal performance, I’ve never really seen anything like it, I was so moved.

The painting started off as an inkblot which I then developed with layers of oil paint to produce a painting inspired by myth, animal symbology and the subconscious mind. It explores the longing, anger and disillusionment of a love torn apart by unforeseen circumstances, where animal nature and masks of the ego overwhelm the figures.

The magazine is free to download, I suggest taking a look at both editions, the first one is short and sweet and the second is full of stories and poetry and features my art.

Take a look at their website below and download the magazines, you will be in for a treat 🙂


Kissed Cracked Killed ClippedOil on canvas90cm diameterAvailable for sale, request detailsKissed Cracked Killed ClippedOil on canvas90cm diameterAvailable for sale, request details

Kissed Cracked Killed Clipped

Oil on canvas

90cm diameter

Available for sale, request details

Mindless Mindful, Scared Nude poetry by Francesca Simonelli


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In the days leading up to my first solo show: Sacred Nude, I have asked poet and writer Francesca Simonelli to respond to my Sacred Nude drawings. What she did completely blew my mind away! Every day until the show opens I will post some of her very special, moving and inspiring poetry for you to enjoy.

Francesca Simonelli‘s poems have touched me and many others for many years and I was over the moon when Francesca agreed to write some words in response to the Sacred Nude series of artworks. Sacred Nude was inspired by a meditation practice that resulted in the healing of body and mind. I wanted to create a series that was dedicated to my meditation practice and the joy (and struggles) I encountered therein.

Exhibition opening: 22 September 2018, 6-9pm

Opening times: 1-5pm every Saturday until 20 October 2018

Inspiring and creative workshops each Saturday

Address:

Retreat Yoga Studio

367 New Cross Road

London, SE14 6AT

See home page to RSVP

 

Mindless-Mindful

By Francesca Simonelli

My heart

Slowed

To the point of emergency

Sounding the alarms

Of medical officials

I sat calmly

Questioning

“Do I want to stay…..

or do I want to go?”

I silently contemplated

Continuing the mindless monotony.

Exposed there

In the ER

Doctors swarming

Whispering

It may as well have been a dream

It was all so surreal

I sat

Neutralized

Seemingly unaffected

This wasn’t the first time.

With the near stroke

And inexplicable paralysis,

I panicked.

When in the midst of writing –

My hand simply stopped working

And I went numb.

Mindful

Only because my body forced me into submission –

That terrified me.

But this,

Now

I knew I could control my heart,

On some level.

I was in charge.

I could drop this body

And run,

Or let myself be lifted.

I walked out –

Mindless

Mindful

Perhaps a bit of both…

While the doctors were huddled

Not telling me their plan

Down the hallway,

As if I were already flat-lined.

They did not include me

In their conversation

As though I were an eavesdropper from the other team

Listening in on their mysterious tactics

While the head coach

Mumbled indiscernibly.

I did not trust their approach

Or methodology

But it was a Sunday

And my holistic doctor was not the “on-call” sort

Unless it truly were an emergency

I just was not convinced.

I would wait….

I was ok if I died waiting

But I knew in that moment

It was completely up to me.

With blind faith

I walked away

My legs still as sexy as ever

I could have been a dancer

I sauntered off that artificially lit stage

Where I would have been hooked up

And God only knows what…

Tested

Inserted

Grabbed

Handled

Poked

Prodded.

You know the routine….

The, “Lie down and take it” investigation

A ridiculous process of elimination.

Now

I rest my body when she calls intermission

My legs like antennae

One pointing to the heavens

Reminding me that I am made of stars

The other pointing to the earth

Reminding me that I am made of dirt

I may hide my arms behind my back

I may not let many people in

But believe me when I say

I am wide open

And I know who I am.

Mindful

Many fleeting moments

Still

Mindless

Most days.


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Sacred Nude artworks and poetry by Francesca Simonelli

Sacred Nudes

In the days leading up to my first solo show: Sacred Nude, I have asked poet and writer Francesca Simonelli to respond to my Sacred Nude drawings. What she did completely blew my mind away! Every day until the show opens I will post some of her very special, moving and inspiring poetry for you to enjoy.

Francesca Simonelli‘s poems have touched me and many others for many years and I was over the moon when Francesca agreed to write some words in response to the Sacred Nude series of artworks. Sacred Nude was inspired by a meditation practice that resulted in the healing of body and mind. I wanted to create a series that was dedicated to my meditation practice and the joy (and struggles) I encountered therein.


Exhibition opening: 22 September 2018, 6-9pm

Opening times: 1-5pm every Saturday until 20 October 2018

Inspiring and creative workshops each Saturday

Address:

Retreat Yoga Studio

367 New Cross Road

London, SE14 6AT

See home page to RSVP


Francesca’s poetry is the most perfect companion to these Sacred Nude artworks. She speaks of presence, feminine power, sexuality and love.


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SACRED NUDE

Split me

Divide me

Open me

Unify me

Patterns become me

Creator can hide me

In plain sight…

Merge and collide me

Divinity underlies me –

You cannot deny me

Or declassify me.

Just try to demystify me

See that you will quickly

Glorify me

Ignite me.

Recognize me

Deify me

Vilify me

Lullaby me

Magnify me

Liquefy me

Multiply me

I am dark queen

I am the darkness of light

Lilith of the night

You have no chance in this fight…

I refuse to submit

Or blindly gratify.

I am amplified and fortified

I am chaos organized.

I am fertility

And creation

Birth and annihilation

I am open devastation

Cellular division

Peer inside me.

Ride me

Abide in me

Enter me

Emerge from me

Stand beside me

Or above me

And below me

Rise within me

I am mystery

And whimsy

Precision and pandemonium…

I am algorithmic and geometric

Poetic and fractal

Numerical and symbolic

I am woman

I am Pi

I am sanctified

And sublime.

I am written in tongues

And chemical symbols

Scientific and ceremonial

Rubric and ritualistic

I am digits and frequencies

Invisible yet very present

Visual and yet unseen.

Formulas and defiance

I am the ultimate contradiction

Living paradox

I am not quickly solved

Yet I am as complexly simple as can be

The most difficult of riddles

Come reflect with Sphinx

And Me….

 

I am spoken to life

By my very own voice

Birthed by Goddess

Guided by Providence

Matrix created

And infinitely multiplying


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A Painting a Day for 30 Days – Day #7

A Painting a Day for 30 Days – Day #7

Colossus

My daily painting for day number seven is inspired by a poem by Sylvia Plath called Colossus, here is the first stanza:

“I shall never get you put together entirely, 
Pieced, glued, and properly jointed. 
Mule-bray, pig-grunt and bawdy cackles
Proceed from your great lips.
It’s worse than a barnyard.”

This poem is said to refer the Colossus of Rhodes, a sculpture of the Greek Titan Helios erected by the city of Rhodes to symbolise its victory over the Cyprus leader at the time.  The statue later collapsed after an earthquake struck and the poem is centered around the ruins. Helios is a personification of the sun god and here I have depicted him as a fetus in his mothers belly. I have transferred the broken sculptural quality to the female body but I still wanted her to be looming and powerful looking, like the mother of a God.

It is thought to be about Sylvia Plath’s father, his memory and legacy. The poem is rich with complicated imagery and a myriad of interpretations can be found. Here is my interpretation in the form of a painting :

Daily Painting, Painting a Day, Colussus, green oil painting, green, fetus painting, sun god, Helios, greek titan,Jessica Ballantyne, many breasted woman, female nude, surreal figure, abstracted body,  ,

 

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