scales
snake skin
Biblical metaphors for sin
King
Biblical metaphors for sin
- According to St. Paul, sin used to “reign through death” (Rom 5:21) and he urges us not to allow sin to “reign in your mortal body” (Rom 6:12). Also, much earlier, God urges Cain to “rule over” sin which “desires” him (Gen 4:7). Sin can be a king or we can be king over it.
- Sin is a filthy red wine stain in a pure white table cloth, the stain must be washed out many times before it is removed like our sins and forgiveness.
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Leprosy
Leprosy, a skin disease, made a person ritually unclean and unable to enter the Temple and in fact, had to live in exile separated from other people (see Lev 13-14). The connection between sin and leprosy is not as explicit in the Bible, but both of them make a person “unclean” and therefore unfit for God’s presence. Two famous lepers appear in the OT: Naaman the Syrian (2 Kgs 5:1), and King Azariah/Uzziah (2 Kgs 15:5; 2 Chr 26:21-23). Notably, one is delivered by God from leprosy and the other is afflicted by God with the disease. When Jesus cleanses lepers (Mark 1:41 || Matt 8:3, Luke 17:14, Matt 11:5 || Luke 7:22), he is not only healing them physically, but symbolically pointing to his power to forgive sins. Notably, the ten lepers cry out for him to “have mercy on us” (Luke 17:13). He does. So sin is like a debilitating skin disease which makes a person unclean, unable to enter the presence of the Lord.
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A Burden
Anderson insists that the concept of sin as a burden in the OT is the most important, foundational metaphor. For example, we find “a people laden with iniquity” (Isa 1:4), the idea of “bearing sin” (Lev 20:20, 22:9, 24:15; Num 9:13, 18:22, 32), and iniquities “like a heavy burden” (Ps 38:4). But also Jesus says “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt 11:28). So sin is a burden to be borne.
https://catholicbiblestudent.com/2013/06/biblical-metaphors-sin.html
Cleopatra
Giant snakes commonly attacked modern hunter-gatherers in Philippines
Skin of female python killed by Agta Negrito men. Photo by: J. Headland.
Aphrodite
Aphrodite is the Greek Goddess of physical and romantic love, attraction, beauty, seduction, and mischief. The Romans referred to her as Venus, and scholars believe Aphrodite’s worship originated from the Mesopotamian Goddesses Astarte and Ishtar. We can find this same type of Divine Feminine energy in various Goddesses throughout many cultures – Oshun, Hathor, and Freya, for example. Often referred to as “The Golden One,” Aphrodite teaches the pleasures of being human, as well as dedication and love of the Self. She shows us how to be ‘golden’ in both our physical and spiritual lives.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti- Helen of Troy
dusk till dawn snake
Bejeweled Skeletons
snake dance Janik and Arnaut
Nancy Spero
Apart from the phallic symbolism Spero uses the snake in later works as well in a more feminine way, as well as using female figures from (art) historical iconography. Eve and the Serpent from 1995 show the snakes in the background, but also an interesting depiction of the Serpent that hands the apple to Eve in the Garden of Eden. This serpent seems to have a woman's head, which was a common way of depicting the snake in this content in Medieval manuscripts. Her headpiece suggests she is a married woman, which would make her a matron over the young, naive Eve in this picture. This way of depicting the serpent medieval times was also a way to depict women as treasonous and not to be trusted. Spero chooses this iconography to show the active role of women in art history and the active role of the woman in the Fall as well. She is no longer just a subject here, but an active source that impacts the outcome of the narrative.
Spero often chose symbols and female figures that show an active power, such as this Serpent with Eve, but she also brings Medusa out of her context and shows her without the men that would play the main characters in the story where she is defeated by male society. By doing this she shows that the women in these myths have their own existence, without the supremacy of the men that were originally portrayed as protagonists in their stories.
Saul Leiter
Meduza
''not only is she recreating the ancient Mothergoddess image, she also shows that the female nude doesn't have to be the subject of the male gaze, as it has been for centuries in art history. She actively transformed her body into the material of the piece while also carrying out the energy of the Goddess without a trace of penis envy. This energy she also carried out during performances where the naked body interacted with others, as opposed to the static female nude that can be found in male art history.'
Text
snake skin
Every year, at least 440,000 pythons are slaughtered in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam—just to be made into shoes and handbags. The real number is probably much higher because this number doesn’t include the thousands of illegally traded pythons who are exported annually.
Most are torn from their own homes deep in the jungles of Indonesia and Malaysia.
Once they are captured, their heads are often forced down and cut off with a machete. Other times, the snakes’ heads are nailed to a tree and their skins slowly peeled off. Because of their slow metabolisms, snakes remain conscious and are able to feel pain and fear even after they have their heads cut off.
Liquified
Hess developed a wide range of slime-like substances, varying in color and thickness. The materials were draped on a model creating semitransparent blobs and draperies that blur the line between material and skin. Hess captured his new, liquid body in a series of images and performances which got noticed by photographer Nick Knight who shot the material for the album cover of Lady Gaga’s Born This Way.
I was thinking about the snakeskin and hoe they shed which is why I found this really interesting because it looks like the slime gives the illusion that the human is shedding as well. Shedding for me means a clean canvas- a new beginning. like in my church when we ger baptized its the symbol of new beginning and purity.
Baroque- national gallery
Hendrick Goltzuis 1558-1617- Jupiter and Antiope
My first idea about what my fmp should be about was the 1800s gothic because one of my favourite books (dr Jekyll and mr Hyde) and the social aspects of the times. But when I was on my way to archway on Monday I saw a poster about The Baroque exhibition at Tate Britain and I thought about the droppings and the colours of the paintings like in the painting above.
What I really like about the painting is the expressionism and freedom of the body and how its surrounded by usually fruits like grapes which this reminds me of Adam and Eve and how they were so connected the garden of Eden- nature. This also makes me think about the opinions on body image and what is natural or not - like sexual orientation or social standards of the perfect woman. And how women have to shave, and coming from a religious background, I have been taught that I have to dress modestly. This painting make me question what modest is if our body is natural and its normal to be nude when you're a baby but not when you are an adult.l This also makes me think od sensuality and profanity.
Draping ideas and garment details that I can use in my design development.
Fallen women
In an age when sexual innocence was highly valued and sex for a respectable woman was deemed appropriate only within marriage, the loss of chastity for an unwed woman had multiple repercussions. The figure of the ‘fallen’ woman was popularly portrayed in art, literature and the media as Victorian moralists warned against the consequences of losing one’s virtue.
Lost and Found: Once More the Fallen Woman-linda nochlin
Notes:
-Natural law to punish folly and sensuality.
-Innocence corrupted by greed and the great city- softened by sentimentality and humanitarianism.
-readily conceded by women to fall- she might redeem herself through repentance and reintegration into the family
-The setting of innocence- rural as opposed to equally pointed urbanism of the setting of sin
-redemption- return to the family and the native village, rehabilitation of rural felicity and the acceptance of the country girl's natural humble position in society
kneeling- repentance- lowing of the head- humble
Pre-Raphaelite- goddess
Pre-Raphaelite fallen women
"Pre-Raphaelite art includes many beautiful yet different types of women. On one end of the spectrum, we have damsels in distress that need to be rescued. Or fallen women in need of forgiveness for having fallen (as if they fell by themselves). On the other end, we have goddesses and mythological women who need no rescuing and burn with the strength of their own power."
‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’, Frank Cadogan Cowper
‘Cassandra’, Evelyn De Morgan. ‘Chivalry’, Sir Frank Dicksee
body parts- Andres Serrano
Andres Serrano has been an artist/photographer that I have been referring back to constantly in part 2.
I am looking at what makes the body erotic and sensual when I think there is a higher meaning and purpose other than just sex and pleasure.
"referring to the relationship the Church has with women", questioning whether "they are aware of women as human beings or just take them for granted and dismiss them."
Garment silhouette
More silhouettes from the national gallery. I really like the puff sleeves and how feminine the clothes are on the men. It brings out a density and sensual side. I also like the collars and the volume. Also on the third painting the way the dress can be tightened in the front with the knot.
Buttons, and especially the layering of the clothing to create the volume.
Also I was admiring how the fabric falls and is draped so it can stay in place. Also in contrast with the nude pictures I want to experiment with the shapes on the body and to think about "the decision" of what part of the body I want to show and why.
The definition of Baroque
n the context of European history, the period from c. 1585 to c. 1700/1730 is often called the Baroque era. The word “baroque” derives from the Portuguese and Spanish words for a large, irregularly-shaped pearl (“barroco” and “barrueco,” respectively). Eighteenth century critics were the first to apply the term to the art of the 17th century. It was not a term of praise. To the eyes of these critics, who favored the restraint and order of Neoclassicism, the works of Bernini, Borromini, and Pietro da Cortona appeared bizarre, absurd, even diseased—in other words, misshapen, like an imperfect pearl.
leprosy
Leprosy first presents outwardly as boils on the skin. As it progresses, it can form lesions on the bones, allowing for paleopathological study of the disease.
Leprosy, a skin disease, made a person ritually unclean and unable to enter the Temple and in fact, had to live in exile separated from other people (see Lev 13-14). The connection between sin and leprosy is not as explicit in the Bible, but both of them make a person “unclean” and therefore unfit for God’s presence. Two famous lepers appear in the OT: Naaman the Syrian (2 Kgs 5:1), and King Azariah/Uzziah (2 Kgs 15:5; 2 Chr 26:21-23). Notably, one is delivered by God from leprosy and the other is afflicted by God with the disease. When Jesus cleanses lepers (Mark 1:41 || Matt 8:3, Luke 17:14, Matt 11:5 || Luke 7:22), he is not only healing them physically, but symbolically pointing to his power to forgive sins. Notably, the ten lepers cry out for him to “have mercy on us” (Luke 17:13). He does. So sin is like a debilitating skin disease which makes a person unclean, unable to enter the presence of the Lord.
Text
Text
Me too
The role of men
There has been discussion about what possible roles men may have in the #MeToo movement.[67][68][69] It has been noted that 1 in 6 men have experienced sexual abuse of some sort during their lives and often feel unable to talk about it.[70] Creator Tarana Burke and others have asked men to call out bad behavior when they see it,[68][69]or just spend time quietly listening.[19][71] Some men have expressed the desire to keep a greater distance from women since #MeToo went viral because they do not fully understand what actions might be considered inappropriate.[72][73] For the first few months after #MeToo started trending, many men expressed difficulty in participating in the conversation due to fear of negative consequences, citing examples of men who have been treated negatively after sharing their thoughts about #MeToo.[74]
Author and former pick-up artist Michael Ellsberg encourages men to reflect on past behavior and examples of questionable sexual behavior, such as the viral story Cat Person, which is written from the perspective of a twenty-year-old woman who goes on a date with a much older man and ends up having an unpleasant sexual experience that was consensual but unwanted. Ellsberg has asked men to pledge to ensure women are mutually interested in initiating a sexual encounter and to slow down if there is ever doubt a woman wants to continue.[75][76]
Relationship instructor Kasia Urbaniak said the movement is creating its own crisis around masculinity. "There's a reflective questioning about whether they’re going to be next and if they’ve ever hurt a woman. There's a level of anger and frustration. If you’ve been doing something wrong but haven't been told, there's an incredible sense of betrayal and it’ll provoke a backlash. I think silence on both sides is incredibly dangerous." Urbaniak says she would like women to be allies of men and to be curious about their experience. "In that alliance, there's a lot more power and possibility than there is in men stepping aside and starting to stew."[77]
In August 2018, The New York Times detailed allegations that leading #MeToo figure Asia Argento sexually assaulted actor Jimmy Bennett.[78] The sexual assault allegedly took place in a California hotel room in 2013 when he was only two months past his 17th birthday and she was 37; the age of consent in that state is 18.[78]Bennett said when Argento came out against Harvey Weinstein, it stirred memories of his own experience. He imparted he had sought to resolve the matter privately and had not spoken out sooner, "because I was ashamed and afraid to be part of the public narrative."[79] In a statement provided to The Times, he said: "I was underage when the event took place, and I tried to seek justice in a way that made sense to me at the time because I was not ready to deal with the ramifications of my story becoming public. At the time I believed there was still a stigma to being in the situation as a male in our society. I didn't think that people would understand the event that took place from the eyes of a teenage boy." Bennett said he would like to "move past this event in my life," adding, "today I choose to move forward, no longer in silence."[79] Argento, who quietly arranged a $380,000 nondisclosure settlement with Bennett in the months following her revelations regarding Weinstein, has denied the allegations.[80] Rose McGowan initially expressed support for Argento on and implored others to show restraint, tweeting, "None of us know the truth of the situation and I'm sure more will be revealed. Be gentle." As one of the most vocal advocates of the Me Too movement, McGowan faced criticism on social media for her comments, which conflicted with the movement's message of believing survivors.[81] MeToo founder Tarana Burke responded the Asia Argento report, stating "I’ve said repeatedly that the #metooMVMT is for all of us, including these brave young men who are now coming forward. Sexual violence is about power and privilege. That doesn't change if the perpetrator is your favorite actress, activist or professor of any gender."[3]
Grandma Lora
Lovers By Roxy Herve
Jesus forgives a woman
The intensity of the scene demonstrates the magnitude of her repentance.
Lazarus’ sister was expressing her gratitude, the sinful woman her repentance.
The kneeling represents repentance
"Crying, she knelt at the Savior’s feet and washed them with her tears. Then she dried His feet with her hair and kissed them. She put sweet-smelling oil on them too. The Pharisee watched her. He knew the woman had many sins, and he thought Jesus should not let her touch Him. Luke 7:38–39"
Jesus told the Pharisee the woman had many sins but had repented of them. She loved the Savior very much and had faith in Him. He told the woman that her sins were forgiven, that she should not be sad anymore. Luke 7:47–48; D&C 58:42–43; James E. Talmage, Jesus the Christ, 3rd edition (1916), 262–63
Lds.org
The Indian Tomb - Debra Paget - Snake Dance
Adam and eve-the fall of man
The Fall of Man by Peter Paul Rubens, 1628-29
http://dangerouswomenproject.org/2016/10/09/eve-dangerous-woman/
"The story of Adam and Eve still permeates the modern culture, and in particular the association of women with serpents endures in art, literature, and popular culture. the serpentine has long been inextricably linked with the feminine and more specifically, with female sexuality.
Throughout history, the serpentine and the feminine have not only been associated, but even conflated, resulting in a number of depictions of the serpent as actually being gendered as female, and sometimes having a female face or breasts. This conflation is quite transparent in its revelations about society’s perceptions of women: the creation story makes it abundantly clear that the snake is a seducer, a liar, a manipulator, and a hateful creature sent by the Devil."
The fall of Eve was often alluded to in Victorian literature, which was obsessed with ‘fallen women’ and the virgin/ whore dichotomy.
Medusa
Why did she get cursed?
Although Hesiod gives an account of Medusa’s origins and the death of Medusa at the hands of Perseus, he does not say more about her. By contrast, a more comprehensive account of Perseus and Medusa can be found in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. In this work, Ovid describes Medusa as originally being a beautiful maiden. Her beauty caught the eye of Poseidon, who desired her and proceeded to ravage her in Athena’s shrine. When Athena discovered the sea god had ravaged Medusa in her shrine she sought vengeance by transforming Medusa’s hair into snakes so that anyone who gazed at her directly would be turned into stone.
Head of Medusa by Peter Paul Rubens
Snake shedding
Hiss
Hiss
"A Nagin is a goddess that takes on the form of a snake, usually a King Cobra - a Snake Woman. There have been several other Bollywood films made about them. This one is played by Bollywood Bombshell Mallika Sherawat. She loves to dance because snakes are always charmed by music, right? There's a plot about a horrible American (and there are no villains more horrible than ugly Americans in Bollywood films) who kidnaps the male cobra and wants to catch her, but that's not as important here as the sexy snake woman. We get to watch her wriggle naked up a street lamp to sleep at night like a stripper pole dancing. When she sheds her skin, it's more like a striptease, and there's even a sexy scene with her Nagini, the male cobra, while she's still a woman. But when she gets angry, the makeup comes off and she turns back into a hideous snake monster, brutally killing all the wife-beaters and rapists she meets. Part teen porn, part female revenge fantasy, part religious relationship drama (I left that boring part out) this one has something for the whole family."
What I really liked about this movie was this scene where the "woman snake" was shedding and I thought that it would make an interesting textile design. I could knit it on the machine at Archway and then stitch into it.
Alfred Cheney Johnston
Johnston's "standard" work, of course, was used by Flo Ziegfeld for the normal advertising and promotional purposes for the Follies, and mainly consisted of individual or small-group shots of the Follies showgirls in their extravagant stage costumes. However, after Johnston's death in 1971, a huge treasure trove of extremely artistic full-nude and semi-nude full-figure studio photos (and their accompanying glass-plate negatives) was found stored at the farm near Oxford, Connecticut, where he'd lived since 1940. Most of these images (some named, mostly anonymous) were, in fact, showgirls from the Ziegfeld Follies, but such daring, unretouched full-frontal images would certainly have had no public-publication possibilities in the 1920s-1930s, so it is speculated that these were either simply his own personal artistic work, and/or done at the behest of Flo Ziegfeld for that showman's personal enjoyment.
What I really like about these photographs is the idea of deciding which part of the body you want show or hide. And this idea of transparency and being yourself in your truest nature.
There was this article called: Nudity in Art: Acceptable vs Pornographic.
talking about how we find it acceptable to see nudity in paintings and what makes nudity in art acceptable, and what makes it pornographic.
“What spirit is so empty and blind, that it cannot recognize the fact that the foot is more noble than the shoe, and skin more beautiful than the garment with which it is clothed?”- Michelangelo
“And who is so barbarous as not to understand that the foot of a man is nobler than his shoe, and his skin nobler than that of the sheep with which he is clothed.”
https://ipoxstudios.com/nudity-in-art-acceptable-vs-pornographic/
Christy Lee Rogers
Christy Lee Rogers’ striking underwater photography series, Muses, evokes the drama and dynamism of Baroque paintings.
McQueen 2013 Baroque
with its focus on the humble piety of Low Church Anglicans.
Communion, nuns, cardinals, popes, and angels. In a scarcely believable but timely twist for McQueen, Britain's most senior Catholic cardinal has just stepped down in the wake of one of those sex scandals that endlessly plague the Vatican in the twilight of its domain. Burton coincidentally garbed her cardinal duo in outfits that would have done a Vegas showgirl—or a cross-dressing cleric—proud. And, bearing in mind the about-to-be-well-documented propensity of clergymen for outré behavior, she dressed her papal twosome as right royal queens of the British Isles.
External media
Sue Wong
fall 2015 “Mythos & Goddesses” collection
And there was certainly no shortage of draped, regal-looking pieces that would look right at home in the halls of Mount Olympus: long beaded gowns with trains trailing out behind, strapless peplum gowns, drop-waist gowns with pleated lace skirts and Grecian halter gowns with beaded neckbands.
What I loved the most was the headpieces and I started thinking about how I can use the idea to put it on the body.
Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Cheney_Johnston
https://ipoxstudios.com/nudity-in-art-acceptable-vs-pornographic/
Ford, Ford Maddox. Parade’s End (London: Penguin Classics, 2012).
http://andresserrano.org/series/early-works
Hardy, Thomas. Tess of the d’Urbervilles (Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions Ltd, 2000).
The Holy Bible, New Revised Standard Version (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989).
http://dangerouswomenproject.org/2016/10/09/eve-dangerous-woman/
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2001/08/jesus-forgives-a-woman?lang=eng
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2001/08/jesus-forgives-a-woman?lang=eng
https://foundlingmuseum.org.uk/events/fallen-woman/
https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends-europe/legend-medusa-and-gorgons-002773
http://barthess.nl/liquified.html
https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/fall-2013-ready-to-wear/alexander-mcqueen/slideshow/collection#6
http://dangerouswomenproject.org/2016/10/09/eve-dangerous-woman/
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3049751?seq=3#metadata_info_tab_contents
http://www.californiaherps.com/films/snakefilms/Hisss.html
Eve and the Serpent from 1995 Nancy Spero
http://barthess.nl/liquified.html
https://juxtapoz.com/news/photography/saul-leiter-s-intimate-photographs-of-his-muses/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9YHgYG0emY
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/117515871507001711/
https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/sensual-religion/
https://www.peta2.com/news/snake-skin-fashion-cruelty/
https://knitting-crochet.wonderhowto.com/how-to/tie-snakeskin-bar-knot-391697/