Crater

Crater, 2012. 18" x 20" x 16". Cardboard, paper, acrylic, spray paint, oil stick, pencil, t shirt, panty hose, cotton stuffing, gold leaf, thread.

This type of Greek urn, called a 'Krater' was used to mix wine and water. On the vessel I have depicted Jason and Medea along with a shield emblazoned with a triangle. This shape represents the womb from which their two sons were born. The 3 objects - man or Jason, woman or Medea, and dark power or Birthing material form a triumvirate. This trinity of powerful symbols makes up much of the story of Jason and the Golden Fleece. The Golden Fleece tells a quest for legitimacy; hence the journey of Jason to find it and bring back legitimate rule to Iolcos.

Personally, the dark power can symbolize multiple things relating to birthing materials. This can be sperm, the womb, or sea foam like that which bore Botticelli's Venus or Uranus' castrated testicles which bore Aphrodite. The urn itself is symbolic of a female's womb. Water and wine mix to create life in a party. Sperm and egg mix to create human life. The penetrating phallic organ hugging the back of the vessel obviously suggests a male presence. The Golden Fleece draped over the side, spilling out over the edge represents the ejaculation that brings forth life.



This work is part of the on going cycle about Jason and the Golden Fleece. It speaks of the struggle my wife and I have had in conceiving a child. It is also the personal quest to legitimize my art. To make something of myself after having lost my place in architecture.

I painted a quote from the 'Argonautica' which reads "wave washes without noise; there moveth nothing that creeps or flies". I find the quote appropriate as it describes a deserted beach front. The backside of the vessel where the quote is writ is an abstraction of human cell division.