WYSIWYG

What You See Is What You Get. This is a journal blog, an explore-blog, a bit of this and that blog. Sharing where the mood takes me. Perhaps it will take you too.

Menosukhi Moments on Monday

Regular visitors will recall that I have previously shared photographs of the various wall decoration in the YAMster's hutch. What I never showed, was the gap. Majority artworks are on the one long wall, but there has been a large gap between the two nearest the lounge door.

The gap was deliberate. You see, I had purchased three artworks last Christmas from the Royal Scottish Academy exhibition. There was 'The Building of Our Lass II' (David Morris); there was 'Solitary Journey'
(Liz Myhill);... and then there was 'Nellie' (Martin Grimes). I received a lovely letter of thanks from David along with further info on the fishing vessel 'Our Lass II', now commissioned and working out of Whitby. There was a brief note of thanks emailed from Liz. Both those works were available as seen on the wall of the exhibition, though they did have further, limited edition, pieces available.

Couldn't get the wall piece of 'Nellie' though. It was sold almost at opening I believe. No surprise. Poor Nellie would reach any heart which had Love in it. When I made my return visit to assess which works to purchase, I enquired as to the other copies of the limited edition. The curator advised me that actually they were all originals, but a series of the same image, each one altered in some way. They would come unframed.  Well that was okay, as it saved me £100. The remaining seven were available to be viewed on the big-screen computer at the curator's desk. He also had three of them on the premises, which were brought through for my perusal.

Oh my word. Whatever was happening to Nellie?!!

The framed piece on exhibit had been cleverly picked by the artist. It was far and away the most effective as a stand-alone. Picking from the remaining selection was thus coloured by that; however, when viewed as the full eight, the emotional impact created was a visceral, highly physical reaction. The three unframed pieces at the gallery were the two prior and one immediately following in sequence and the other four viewed on screen followed from that. (Just so you know, the one I picked is the second of the sequence.)

I share this with you further because there was an enigma. The artist did not forward any recognition for the sale made; not that one necessarily expects such, however, the other two having done so, the lack was more marked.

It is further intriguing because of that scene which unfolded over the eight pieces.

You see... Nellie went from being a slightly grubby and well-worn ele-stuffy, to a fully-worn and extremely dark and bloodied critter by the end.  In some small part of me, it felt wrong to be picking just one of it; the sequence was a complete one, and if it had been at all feasible, the whole of it might have been bought. Then again, how to live with that?

I became as torn in viewing Nellie, as Nellie had been by the mind of the artist.

I found myself wondering if this was a toy of his childhood and he was mourning its loss; or was he working through some terrible deed of his younger life; perhaps the loss of innocence? There was certainly a profound sense of anger mixed with grief as the sequence built up. Bringing Nellie 2 home, it struck me that, despite being the 'simplest' piece I bought in its execution, it was by far the most complex in its effect upon me. I was relating this to Mac2 one day recently and she put forward the possibility that perhaps the artist was making comment on the devastation of poaching. A plausible thought - however I was not convinced, as I think that a more realistic elephant would have been used for such and it would have been clearly stated in the presentation piece. Wanting to know more, the usual 'search' was done. As the other two artists had websites, I was surprised to find that MG did not. I was still in the dark.

The unframed Nellie sat in my lounge till last week, still bound up in bubble wrap and RSA tape and stickers. Waiting for me to get it to the framers - at least that is what I thought. Whilst over in Edinburgh, taking the father shopping one day, a frame was spotted which I instinctively knew was the correct size and style. It was £9 - to get it framed professionally might be ten times that!

In framing Nellie properly at last, I again made a search for MG online. It was not easy at all - the artist is as much an enigma as his work! However, I did eventually decide that the MG given on the link of that name above must be the same artist who produced the Nellies. Reading the little bio provided there indicates the complex thinking of the fellow.

What was a decider for me that this must be him, was the reference to inspiration coming from (among others) children and childrens' toys. There is also empathy expressed for the endangered green sea turtle and an obscure reference to the worship of one.

Somewhere between these two points, Nellie's story lies.

This is the wonder and beauty of art. Like dreams, it permits a processing of our deepest recesses; it processes what words cannot; it can carry us far from our comfort zone, then deposit us safely back with, hopefully, an enlargement of our being. It might do this with humour, it might do this with light and colour. Or it might do this with a few dark lines...


10 comments:

  1. Fascinating indeed.
    For me it is music, more often than visual art that, as you so beautifully and succinctly put it, "processes what words cannot".
    Cheers, Gail (back in the UK).

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    1. Hari OM
      WELCOME HOME!!! Truly, this morning I was thinking about Bertie and Gail and wondering if they were together again!!!

      Oh yes, I totally agree that music is for one's own processing - I perhaps missed the mark in explaining that was intrigued by the artist's process - which of course I have some sense of, being inclined to art in a small way myself. Music for sure can touch 'chords' of the soul which nothing visual can for the one experiencing it. Perhaps art, in the sense I was pondering here, is closer to poetry; the reader/viewer will see and gain according to their own 'stuff' - whilst the poet often has no idea what they have brought out!

      Lovely to have you back with us and looking forward to Bertie's tales of the gap &*> Yxx

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  2. As hard as we might, there is so much art we do not understand and mom is no help at all. But we think this would be something that would capture our attention as well. It nearly captures the mind of the viewer with all the possibilities. Is the gap complete?

    Your Pals,

    Murphy & Stanley

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    1. Hari OM
      That space is filled... now to work on another! &*>

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  3. I think the framing of Nellie is enhanced by your framing of the framing of Nellie.

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  4. Wow. I've been a long time gone, and decided when I saw your comment on Jenn's blog that I must reach out to you. I was not, however, prepared for the intense emotion of the story of your Nellie #2. Wow again.
    Methinks I may, perchance, have underestimated the writing of my friend Yam, and for that I apologize. Thank you, however, for detailing the story of your search for the right Nellie.
    Love, K

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    1. Hari Om
      FAilte Kay!!! it is a delight to have you drop by. I suppose, to be fair, you have seen little of 'my writing' since the Take Too blog was retired - though there is plenty of it peppered throughout this bloggy also. I reserve the majority of my muse and brain power for Aatmaavrajanam, and MENO blog is - as has always been intended - the release valve for less intellectual and more interactive play. However, it too has it's moments. &*>

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  5. Isn't it wonderful to recycle a frame for a piece new to us?
    I have done this several times with family photos. I like fancy, old gold ones.
    I love your saga. I agree, the series would have been wonderful, in a stark, enlightening way. In our case, we need to trade in some art, in order to have places to put new ones!
    What a lovely read this was. xx from across the pond!

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    1. Hari OM
      This frame is not recycled - it was new at that price! (scary but true). I do love to find old frames though, and often do in the charity shops, but they are rarely of adequate size like this one. (That's 50cm sq.) I have miles of wall space here (11ft ceilings) and no doubt there will be more works being raised e'er long! Yxx

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