Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Sway



“We do not grow absolutely, chronologically.
We grow sometimes in one dimension and not in another; unevenly.
We grow partially. We are relative.
We are mature in one realm, childish in another.
The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present.
We are made up of layers, cells, constellations.”

Anaïs Nin



A gradual realisation that although at times it may feel easier, the worst thing one can do is to stay still and stagnate. In an effort to proceed, there's been lots of reflection and taking stock of what i wish to carry forward and what to leave behind.

8 inches taller and 8 years older, upon our first meeting i had no notion of the impact he would have on my life. A seemingly simple encounter led to someone who became my dear friend, lover, confidant, at times antagonist and in a way, my first real life teacher.



An old soul possessing an army of rubber ducks, an immense artistic talent, a sense of humour that could reduce me to hysterics and despite unbelievable personal challenges, an unwavering interest in people and the world around him.

A day rarely goes by without his influence being felt in some way, shape or form. The list of music, art, literature, design and film that he introduced me to is immense and I am forever indebted to him for introducing me to the likes of:







&

Jim Woodring.



My love for Jim Woodring’s work has only deepened as it appeals to both the adult and child within. A Seattle based artist and comic book author originally hailing from Southern California; Woodring has produced some pretty surreal work over the years of which 'Frank' is my favourite.





Frank is an undetermined creature who Woodring has described as being a "generic anthropomorph". He inhabits an unusual world called the Unifactor which also features characters such as Pupshaw, Man-hog and Whim. The Frank stories are inherently psychedelic, usually wordless and are either drawn in vivid color or black/white.


Suffice to say that i can't do his work justice with a few words but the following article is a well articulated and comprehensive piece on the world of Frank.




"Frank
reclaims the spectacle, acting as a cartoon derive, affording us the ability to reimagine and renegotiate the squidgy territory of our childhoods. Children don’t experience the world as an endless reiteration of lovecuddly impressions - the view from their window is as frightening, incandescent and disturbing as our own, if not more so, and the lies we tell to children about winking moons and benevolent suns are lies we tell ourselves. I accept that it’s perfectly natural for us to create the universe in our own image, but *we* are a gazillion times more outlandish and many tentacled than we let on. Woodring knows this, and he steals back the hallucination in order to remind us. No matter how hard we try to package, limit and sanitize the substance of things, both imaginal and otherwise, the universe instinctively tends towards the marvellous, demented, unfathomable and uncaring."



To learn more about Jim Woodring's work:

http://www.jimwoodring.com/
http://jimwoodring.blogspot.com/


2 comments:

Radge said...

I love this, read it earlier and after a trip to the pub I'm surprised I'm the first to comment.

The thing that sticks with me is that we can never conceive of the people who make the biggest impact on our lives before we meet them.

(Yeah, easy to tell I've had a few.)

Green of Eye, Sharp of Claw said...

@Radge: Comments are a rarity here so each one is treasured :) Much like Mr Woodring's work!

Yeah i had no idea (and the element of surprise makes it all the sweeter). There have been a few along the way but they impacted in different ways.

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