| Martin Herbert : Mask II : Watercolour : 15" x 22" (381 x 559 mm) approx. |
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| Original:
Collection of B. Gurr Another older work, and a lousy picture, but the only one I have, and it's featured here because it's still of of my favourite works - one which I somehow regard as more than just a painting - it is also an object of power in its own right. I started to find, while working on this, that in the way that certain ceremonial objects have an undefinable feeling of power about them, so can a painting of that object have, even when, as here, the object is imaginary. (The mask is based on an Inuit shaman's mask, but also bears runic and other inscriptions which owe more to the pagan religions of Northern Europe than North America). The whole feeling of this reminds me of the 'Mythago Wood' series of books by Robert Holdstock. Read them now! |
