Forget Me Not

Forget Me Not

oil on canvas

4 x 7 ft

Marius Black
2012

 

Starting this month with a bang! Remember that time back in 2012 when Venus transited over the Sun? That was June 6, 2012 and coincidentally I was given a show exactly on the same day. At first I really couldn't believe it! The story goes like this, Kanto Artists Run Space was looking for artists who they can showcase their works and I was one of the artists they chose. It was my first one man show and I was honored to be exhibiting my first show at the newly opened artists run space known as Kanto. The gallery was overseen by the artist Mideo Cruz and managed by Philip Paraan. They were the good people who approached me to exhibit my works there and it really was something to be able to handle an art exhibit entirely how the artist envisioned it. 

Kanto the best artist-run space there is!

Going back to the exhibition day, I actually was slated to show my works much later due to some changes with the schedule but I really wanted to incorporate the date to my exhibit because in truth, I felt there was something with the June 6, 2012 date. "Felt" meaning I felt something in the ether but I really had no idea what it was so I made some research and guess what? I found out that it was the day that Venus will transit the Sun. 

 In Roman mythology, Venus is the goddess of love, beauty, sex, fertility, prosperity, victory and desire. Her Greek counterpart is Aphrodite and both are represented as the second planet from the sun.

Venus (Roman mythology) Aphrodite (Greek mythology) the goddess of love

The passage of Venus in front of the sun is among the rarest of astronomical events, rarer even than the return of Halley’s Comet every 76 years. Only six transits of Venus are known to have been observed by humans before: in 1639, 1761, 1769, 1874, and 1882 and, most recently, in 2004. And the transit that happened on that day was the last one we'll see in our lifetime so I'm really glad I was able to make this tribute to the goddess of beauty and love. 

I took this shot from a digicam :)

The transit also alludes to many transitional things that will affect the our psyche, from us having to have a better understanding of and preference to barter exchange (having to prefer the exchange of goods with other goods rather than monetary value). The transit is also a great opportunity of exploration of the correlation of the planets and stars, as astronomers who observe the transit always obtain new findings over the years. This promises a higher understanding of the heavenly bodies each time they successfully witness the transit. The Venus transit also foretells the arts flourishing, creating a new renaissance, a new vision, a new age.

One of the artworks I painted for the show is a female figure with an elephant's head. To me, she is God transiting in our world, opening a hole through time and space and entering into our realty. Its title is Forget Me Not, it foretells of a being that does not forget like an elephant turning knowledge into wisdom. She has the body of a woman from which with her arms, can create and care for things into fruition. Feet to travel with and thighs to balance her flight and meditation. And breasts which she can feed the hungry and caress the unloved in her bosom.  

In another coincidence, I met a Hare Krishna devotee in the duration of the show. His name was Puno, and he enlightened me with the story of Krishna, who is recognised as the Supreme God of the Hindu deities. Along with Ganesh / Ganesha; Ganesha is widely known for his many attributes but is widely known for his elephant head with the body of a man and is known to be the remover of obstacles, the patron of arts and sciences and the deva of intellect and wisdom. Did I say, coincidence already? 

Ganesha remover of obstacles

As I do further research now, I discover that there is indeed a female version of Ganesha in the Tantrik practices, her name is Vinayaki. As with Ganesha having an elephant head with a male body, Vinayaki has an elephant head with a female body. Images of Stri Ganesha (the female Ganesha) started appearing from the 16th century onwards. Vinayaki represents the divine in female rather than the more dominant aspect in the male form. In occult sciences the female form was seen as the source of all generative powers: while the spark of life came from the male body. More of this in this website: http://devdutt.com/articles/the-female-ganesha.html

Vinayaki divinity in femininity

The Venus Transit exhibit of mine ran from June 6 - 16, 2012, and from that span of time I was happy to introduce my works to people who had the same interests in art as with mine. And of course I was also happy that I was able to learn new things during its duration. I have never read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho ( I'm not proud of that) but I often hear this well known quote of his: 

"When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” 

― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist  

I believe in this now and in a lot more after the experiencing the transit of Venus. Maybe it was the show, or the opportunity that people gave me. Or the new people I met or from the love of my long time friends and family who came and helped make the show possible. Maybe we are changed by the creations we make, to gain wisdom and humility after a grueling deadline. A new belief, a new enlightenment. It most probably is Ganesha removing obstacles, or serenading Venus does lead us to our soul mate, maybe all we need to do is to be patient for us to meet them. It's actually all of that. Thank you God! Thank you Venus! Hare Krishna!

Sometimes we don't believe in ourselves, sometimes other people believe in us first before we take action. I learned that we can only create change by first making the change within ourselves.

Don't wait, paint! :)

Marius Black

Manila, 2016