Barbed Whire to Cherry Blossom

On the standing leg, the most unfinished surface of the sculpture, a barbed wire winds its way up the leg. Pieces of thin paper in pink and brown shows the slow transformation of the hard wire into a beautiful cherry blossom.

The symbolism of the cherry blossom is according to Buddhistic tradition the transient nature of life. In Japan the flowering is a great cultural event, and even the death of the flowers are celebrated, as it is seen as a promise of new flowering next spring rather than the end of this. Fallen flowers are associated with the souls of the dead warriors.

The barbed wire tattoo is a common symbol of having served time in prison. Often the number of barbs equals the number of years you have served.

My prison was never a physical prison, rather a psychological one. One created by my own fears and low self esteem. Slowly but surly the restrains fade and transform into a symbol of the transient nature of life, as I slowly start believing in myself and living in the moment. The fallen flowers on the pallet represent all the energy I have put into this transformation.

Portraits

On the right leg, not completely finished in texture and looks, I will place three portraits of some of my soul mates that have left this life, but still follow me and inspire me. As I feel the sculpture is in need of some masculine vibes, I have decided to portrait three men that have passed this life but still feel close in many ways.

The first and lower portrait is of Cornelis Vreeswijk, a Dutch born Swedish troubadour. His songs and his life reminds me I should live my life without concerns about what other people might think I should do.
Cornelis Vreeswijk, Grimasch om morgonen

The second is of a Norwegian musician, Marius Müller. He is said to be one of the best guitar players, and some of his music is absolutely magic:
Marius Müller; Engel
Music has always been important to me.

The last portrait is of a person who was very close to me even in this life. My first husband, Arne Frodesen left this world last summer, and it is still a big wound in me for losing him this early and so suddenly. Even though our marriage did not last that long, our friendship could not die, as it is not only from this world. He is still with me every day. He gives me strength and faith and I feel gratitude for being lucky to have him in my life.

The Parrot

The other day a friend of mine came on a visit and told me about this girl walking around in Oslo with her parrot on her shoulder. I got amazingly fascinated and taken by the thought of being a parrot-lady, a perfect companion and friend! On the other side, I would never get me a parrot only for show off. First and foremost I really do not like show-offers, and secondly (but even more important) I would never scarify another creature for pleasure. That being said, this parrot thing could really be my thing.

Whilst figuring this out I decided to find the bird, and find out why I felt I had to have it. What is the symbolic meaning of this bird that I would fancy. I started searching for pictures of parrots, to find out what kind of parrot I would like to have. I read about caring for, and how much time I really have to put into it if I decide to get one. I fell in love with the Congo African Grey.

picture from gotpetsonline.com, owner: Mike and Carol Bates, name: Graycie (wish I had your contact information so I could thank you for the picture...)

Experts regard this to be one of the most intelligent amongst birds. They can live up to 70 years in captivity, so when getting one, it most probably will be for life. The parrot is said to have the intelligence of a 4-6 year old child (depending on who you ask I guess..), about where my son is at the moment. The parrot will need a lot of stimulation and being together to avoid it getting bored and start overdoing its feather-work. (sources: Wikipedia.com and africancongogrey.com)

On the more symbolic side I found two legends connected to the Congo African Grey. The first one is said to be an traditional Yoruban (Nigerian area - Africa) legend. It is about God having a competition amongst birds who has the most beautiful feathers. All the other birds do all they can to make their feathers look perfect, but Odide did not do anything. All the birds envied the beautiful white feathers, and tried to ruin his chances in the competition with ashes and a magic spell to turn its tail feathers red. Odide entered the competition and won anyway, as true beauty comes from the inside.

The other one, also Yoruban, is about the gray parrot who corrected everybody's lies. It helped catching a big thief, but got killed for it. The thief was taken and the people got their things back, but the real hero in the story did not live to be appreciated.

The two stories tells me to remember to be myself, cause even though the people around me do not tolerate my beauty or my honesty I know that being me and being veracious will always be my two leading stars.

Here is the result. Some small adjustments maybe, but at least almost finnished.

The Marius-panther

The first finished and placed scene on my sculptured body is the "Marius"-panther. The cross pattern is taken from a norwegian knitting pattern presented by Sandnes Uldbarefabrikk in 1952 (ref. wikipedia). The "Marius-sweather" was commonly used in my adolescence and I have always been a great fan of the simple pattern.

Knitting pattern for Marius-sweather

In the last years both knitting in general and the "Marius-sweather" pattern have experienced renewed interest, and the old patterns have been used both in old and modernized versions.

computer inspired alterations

I have always loved cats, and the black panther has always been my favorite animal. The black panther, to me, symbolizes strength, courage and  and also has a strong sexual scent to it. Even thoug the name black panther is not a scientific term for a distinct species, but rather a common name for big cats with black coat (ref: http://www.blackpantheranimal.com ), the animal has fascinated, intimidated and inspired human beings with its elegant looks and its feared temper.


The black panther in me gives me unlimited strength and will to fight for my own way of living. Me being a non-violent and peaceful tempered person, it might seem strange for me to have one of the worlds most tempered and stealthy animals as my number one inspirations in the animal kingdom.. I believe the world will see more of the black panther in me in the future..


The panther is a solitary animal, but people who know other spices of cats will confirm that they can be extremely affectionate and will submit themselves to their alpha being, as long as they feel it is in their best interest. This is probably where the deepest similarities between me and the cat-animal lies.


In my scene the black panther progresses from the traditional and strict Marius pattern. My own strength and personality is finally showing through my Norwegian traditional, and in some ways strict adolescence, encouraging me to live my own life. There is no sign of the panther destroying the pattern, -it is rather trying to interact with it, leaving it as a nice frame to reinforce the animals strength and beauty.

The Marius-panther

Taking shape

My statue is really starting to take shape. I have finalized the sketch of the finished piece, and think there will be only minor changes from now on. This is the final sketch:

Have also made my thigh today, first form with no need to cut. It went almost smoothly of down my leg (after Lene had cut me with the scissors again...).

I have also started working on the theoretical part of the assignment, and believe I will wright about self-portraits and tattoos, both on historical and cultural basis. I think I will be able to find some interesting interceptions on the two topics.

I will start writhing some pieces on the tattoo scenes, and post them here one by one.