The beautiful, iconic, genius who is Grace Jones “If you are a fan of doing the unexpected, and I am, then it is an advantage to be highly skilled at changing your mind. If you do not want to limit yourself, then be prepared to change your mind—often.”
I burned this piece as it had been ruined by trolls. This is the remake. The old version lies somewhere in charred remains. Modelled in VR, Lit, textured and rendered in Cinema 4D, composited in After Effects.
There’s a constant battle in the life of an artist. My current battle is with the decision about which style to follow. I create abstract exxpressionist sculptures with naive-art influences. I also love to create cartoon-style punk characters. As artists, we need to rest, to imbibe new influences and experiences. But the drive to create is so irresistable that it often causes us to work too hard. Often exhausting ourselves and resulting in us ending up depressed and anxious.
This piece is about these battles as I dance with myself on a daily basis. The two characters represent the two opposing styles, which one will win the dance-off?
I made all the music for this piece – attempting to get a garage-punk vibe and sound. I played my drums, recorded them and then added the quitar, bass etc. I wanted to create a punk-rock, angsty feeling for this piece.
Iwazaru, the third of the three wise monkeys, speaks no evil, covering his mouth.
Iwazaru is different from her friends. She feels the senses of isolation, fear, confusion & frustration with other people. Its a continuous struggle not to vocalize her incredulity at the stupidity & shortsightedness of her fellow beings. Sometimes she wonders if its a form of repressed Tourettes Syndrome or if she’s just a bad person who doesn’t deserve a voice.
In Japanese legend, the Sanshi are the Three Corpses or worms, living inside everyone’s body. The Sanshi keep track of the good deeds and particularly the bad deeds of the person they inhabit. They report these deeds to the god, Ten-Tei. The three wise monekys caused the Sanshi and, ultimately, the god, Ten-Tei not to see, say or hear the bad deeds of a person. Protecting them from judgement or persecution.
This partially ties into modern psychology which talks of the vulnerable child, the nurturing parent and the critical adult inside each personality. The idea of there being multiple facets to ones personality fascinates me. We are not just driven by one inevitable force. We have options if we tune into the different voices in our heads.
The three monkeys proverb is sometimes used to refer to a lack of moral responsibility on the part of people who refuse to acknowledge impropriety, looking the other way or feigning ignorance. Perhaps a result of not being in touch with their more kind, empathetic inner voices?
Personally, I struggle daily with feeling different from the majority of the human population. I have Aspergers so it often feels like I’m from a different planet. Other people frustrate me and confuse me. I have thoughts going through my head of what I’d like to say to them instinctively. But most of the time I stop myself.
This piece was created under incredible strain – originally during the Thatcher years, then updated in 2020 during COVID. It’s about how we often cope in very trying times. We reach for our old crutches, drink, drugs and a brave face. It also celebrates feminism and equality between men and women.
