 |
This one, once I figured out the symbolism of the components, made too much sense, and those of my friends who received this piece got it either because I knew they could relate to the meaning or the central object or both (or I figured they'd just think the action figure and colors were cool). Blue symbolizes emptiness, dreams, heaven, detachment, transcendence, wisdom, and water. Pearls symbolize water and woman, but especially female sexuality; however, they can also symbolize intellect and purity. Necklaces are unity and oneness, but when broken (as this one is) they represent disintegration and universal upheaval. Flowers are passive, a symbol of evolution or perfection to be attained, but they also symbolize fickleness. Amazons are supposed to represent the "denial of the traditional assumption of female nature and the impossibility of altering one's nature to fit an ideal". Lastly, spears represent the phallus, axis, heavenly activity (in the astronomical sense), or law and civil strength. So, once again, I paired objects with juxtoposing meanings. I think the figure is central to the meaning of the piece: as the Amazon she is in a world of her own, being too physically strong and aggressive to be wholy a female, and too soft and feminine to be a male. I got the impression from the dictionary - although I don't think that it was ever stated outright - that Amazons were not considered a good thing because of this ambiguity. They were like the evil twin of the good, pure, and passive ideal of woman. Visually she is literally floating in her little world with objects of transcendence and (moral?) disintegration all around her; close enough to make her go either way... But isn't that how many of us feel all the time? Caught up between being the best person we can be and the temptations to just give up? This piece is in the collections of Tony and Joseph Kirkland-Purvis, Robert Marx, David Nateman, Cindee Johnston, and Judy Barger. |