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"Bermondsey Boogie Woogie"
maze painting
acrylic, ink, graphite
on wood
© David John 1991
Appleby collection,
Cumbria, UK
Find your way into
or out of the labyrinth. |
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People have been fascinated by labyrinths since pre-history: they have been built with stones and plants, and depicted in scratchings, carvings, drawings, paintings, prints, mosaics and on coins. As symbols, they have been ascribed with magical power and religious, philosophical and psychological significance. Today mazes appear as simple games in popular puzzle magazines and children's comics.
The most famous labyrinth was the subject of a Greek myth. It was built by Daedalus (father of Icarus) beneath King Minos' palace on Crete
as a prison for the Minotaur, a half-bull half-man monster. The hero Theseus managed to find his way around the labyrinth with a ball of thread given him by Minos' daughter Ariadne, slew the Minotaur, and escaped the maze safely. Incredibull.
As I was painting this picture, which was intended as the first of a series, my head was full of ideas and visions about what it meant to me. On the simplest level, I identified with the the notion of attempting to navigate through the complexities of life. We try to progress, but often end up back in the same place because we have failed to learn something and keep making the same mistakes. Are we trying to find our way out of or further into the maze? Finding the centre may bring the reward of peace, love, bliss, enlightenment or some other sought for aim. Finding the way out represents escape from confusion and disorientation, the feeling of being lost, thwarted, mislead - by others or our own ignorance.
I was living in Bermondsey, south east London at the time, and boogie woogie for me was a kind of wild, mad dance which seemed appropriate to my wild, mad life. The more I attempted to straighten it out the madder and wilder it became.
I gave the painting to Raphael Nicholson and Tim Appleby as a wedding present. One of the most memorable things about their wedding in Saint Martin's Church, Brampton, Cumbria, was that one of the guests was wearing a bear costume. Honest. This has nothing to do with labyrinths, I just thought you'd like to know.
David John |
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