Edward Furlong

 

 

This portrait of actor Edward Furlong (b. 1977) is a serigraph I created, based on a photograph. The ink is oil paint mixed to a consistency that allows it to be used for silkscreen printing. This print is a one-off, rather than a limited edition. I produced several versions of the image, this being the most successful.

Parabolics: 6-Petal Dish

This is another version of the diamond spiral parabolic dish. Deeper indentations around the boundaries produce a resemblance to a 6-petal blossom. With this dish I was more careful about gluing the foil to the panels, with smoother results. Some spiral panels are built of a rough stippled art paper; producing a silken texture; others are built of smooth board, generating a shinier appearance.

Parabolics: Diamond Spiral

In my first post I mentioned that the background to the image of Helios is based on the geometry of a diamond spiral configuration, like the heart of a sunflower. Hopefully this image shows more clearly what that means. This is a parabolic dish that I built out of humble materials like corrugated paperboard, aluminum foil, bookbinding glue and art paper. It's about 22 inches in diameter. I made my first one with the idea of creating a solar concentrator. After building it I found that if you place a light source at the focus of the paraboloid, the reflecting surface throws the light back at you very dramatically. Even quite a feeble light source such as a candle shows up quite well, as you can see here.

As in my images of Helios and Eros ascendant, these curves are logarithmic spirals. There are various ways of generating such spirals, which I may post about at a later time.

In time, I would like to create images of Helios and other subjects on picture surfaces in the form of a parabolic dish using reflective materials, such that they can be illuminated with a candle or candles, like this dish here. I feel these would make excellent altar pieces.

Gods of Cythera: Phanes

In the Orphic tradition, Phanes is the first of the gods, called Phanes Protogenos: first-born Phanes. He was born of the egg of Night and Chaos, and with him light was born. Some classical sources identify him with Elder Eros, as described in Hesiod's "Theogony." He is the first king of the universe. The serpent wrapped around him is the Agathos Daimon, or Good Spirit, and is sometimes also associated with Saturn. He stands within the zodiac because it represents the cosmos over which he reigns.

I created this piece in watercolor, gouache and ink on tinted paper. The composition is based on an ancient relief sculpture located in Modena, Italy.

Gods of Cythera: Eros

On one level this is Eros, god of love. It's also the ascent of the soul toward the ineffable One, a concept from Hermetic philosophy. Hence it's a visual expression of emanationist philosophy, in which all creation descends in a hierarchy of being from a source that is beyond personality.

The enclosing heart shape didn't come from a candy box or a Hallmark card. As with the piece before it, the bounding curves describe a logarithmic spiral. The same geometry governs the shapes of the rays and flames emanating from their common source at the heart of the spirals. And as with the piece before it, I made this one in watercolor, ink and gouache on tinted paper. The dimensions are 12 by 16 inches.

 In my work the divine is sexy, and vice-versa.

Gods of Cythera: Helios

Helios, the sun god: or more exactly, the Titan of the Sun. I created this in watercolor, ink and gouache on tinted paper. The curves that bound the image area are mirror reflections of a logarithmic spiral, a network of which also governs the placement of the stars. It's a spiral diamond configuration, like the heart of sunflower.