My Little RED Valentines Day- For the Love of the Beast Within Me and His Long Unruly Fur...

Figure 10. Kiki Smith. Rapture Bronze ©Kiki Smith, Photo By: Richard-Max Tremblay/Courtesy PaceWildenstein, New York

For this year's valentine's day post, I want to share a passion that I have that has been ensconced within my work (see my illustrations) and thoughts for quite a while...our animal human divide, my animal instincts or how some academics prefer to call it our primitive brains.

my pendant by Poodlebreath

"You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves."- Mary Oliver

Actually for close to a decade now; I have seen the relinquishing of reason and justification in order to appease my deepest desires as a manifestation of my animal self. My ability or lack there of to reign in my instinctual desires to me is a reflection of seeing the beast (my true self) within me and allowing it to surface as a reflection of who I truly am. I also see our animal selves as the intercessor between the sacred nature of the environment and our regard for it.

My Wolf ring by Raven Designs

"...animals and humans respond physiologically to traumatic experiences and how our ‘animal body’ naturally responds to a threatening situation regardless of what our rational mind may think.
The nervous system’s response to danger is ‘hardwired’ in the reptilian (instinctual) and mammalian limbic (emotional) parts of our brain that we share with other animals. A threatened human or animal must discharge the adrenaline mobilized to negotiate danger, for example by shaking or trembling, or it will succumb to trauma as the residual energy persists in the body creating a variety of unpleasant symptoms.
While animals instinctively discharge this energy, humans are less adept at this and when confronted with a life threatening situation, our rational brains may become confused and override our instinctive impulses.

Levine(From Waking the Tiger by Peter Levine)... explaining that while our highly evolved neo-cortex (rational brain) cannot override the fight, flight or freeze response to danger, it allows an overcontrol which interferes with the instinctual responses generated by our older (evolutionarily) reptilian brain that are necessary for return to normal functioning..."

- Reclaiming our Animal Body Author: Tania Dolley

The Grimm fairytale that opens the window into this duality for me is Little Red Riding hood...

However, I see this tale as a preamble/ an introduction to a more interesting question, story and character, the girl who emerges saved from the belly of the wolf...that is who I am interested in.

In her 2002 study Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked, Catherine Orenstein claims that the tale “embodies complex and fundamental human concerns”

"[Red Riding Hood’s] tale speaks to enduring themes of family, morality, growing up, growing old, of lighting out into the world, and of the relationships between the sexes.
It brings together archetypal opposites, through which it explores the boundaries of culture, class, and especially, what it means to be a man or a woman.
The girl and the wolf inhabit a place, call it the forest or call it the human psyche, where the spectrum of human sagas converges and where their social and cultural meanings play out."

- From UNCLOAKED a Little Red Ridinghood study by Catherine Orenstein

recent lil red work by me, m.diaz detail of lil red by m.diaz ink on wood

As far as I am concerned at the very end of this fairytale is just when I think it starts. The end of the tale is where my wonderment and fondness begins. With my overactive imagination, to me there is no better topic for a Valentines day post than the misnomer of traditional Little Red Ridinghood interpretations and seeing perhaps the 'all-consuming' love between a hunter and his prey the wolf and the girl/ girl and a beast/ and the transformative power of that love since she emerges not unscathed from the belly of the wolf, but surely a force to be reckoned with as she is reborn in a sense from this consumption...

Little Red Ridinghood Brothers Grimm Illustrated by Daniel Egneùs

I bought the book above (- beautifully illustrated) and the t-shirt below and now so can you! BUY IT! But let's just agree to not wear it on the same day in the same place :))

Score this design: "RED," to help it get printed on Threadless!

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Inspiring Artist- Kiki Smith

I'm in Paris for my last night! Tomorrow we spend the last Parisian day absorbing the exquisite sites. There is an amazing Marie Antoinette exhibit that I am hoping to see, as well as, Jim Morrison's grave and a phenomenal Patisserie that I spotted earlier on the trip (providing there is no drama with the students - tomorrows block of free time should prove exceptionally appreciated and divine). Thus far, all of us are incredibly cold and exhausted, yet we have seen absolutely phenomenal things. This is my third time in Paris and each time feels deeply more moving. I'm afraid the weather in Berlin will be the death of us as far as weather! Next is Munich than Berlin. I wrote quite a few blog posts before I left anticipating having no internet access, so the following is one of those posts!

One of my favorite artist is Kiki Smith

photo by Nan Goldin

"Best known for provocative depictions of the female body — both in anatomical fragments and in full figure — Kiki Smith has explored a broad range of subjects, including religion, folklore, mythology, natural science, art history, and feminism. By turns intimate, universal, visceral, and fragile, Smith's art renders the figure in frank, nonheroic terms, expressing its dual aspects of vulnerability and strength. Smith uses a wide variety of media, seeking out equivalences between the body and materials of art — the fragility and imperfections of skin and handmade papers, for example, or the fleshy, organic volumes of wax and plaster. Organized in close collaboration with the artist, this full-scale survey of her 25-year career includes nearly 100 objects grouped into thematic clusters she refers to as "gatherings," with works in plaster, bronze, paper, glass, and ceramic, as well as installations, prints, drawings, and photographs."-SFMOMA WEBSITE

I saw Kiki Smith speak at some museum talk back when I was living in Baltimore and working on my MFA. She combines printmaking and varied mediums in her work which is often rich with female referents. She is fascinated with dissecting the myths around our sociological culture. I am in awe of her presence and mind. I think she is most definitely a phenomenal woman. Check out Kiki Smith and tell me what you think! Mind you the video is part of the Art:21 PBS series and is an excerpt of a longer piece. The snippet does come across as a bit morbid.

If you have never heard of Kiki Smith I really recommend clicking of the links I have provided since her work is more varied than what I could possibly offer here! I especially marvel at her Prints, Books & Things collection. This website is informative, interactive and elegantly designed- its a real treat. Furthermore, the Feminine Context theme is excellent, thought-provoking and stimulating for any artist with 'female sensiblities' at the core of what they do!