The strange and beautiful life of the sea and some mysterious manuscripts
· Aquarium visit
This month I visited the Sydney Sea Life Aquarium to take reference photos and commune with the sea creatures. I was particularly keen to see some cephalopods, but there was only one that I could see, a gloomy octopus, also known as a common Sydney octopus, who was hiding behind a rock with just a single tentacle visible, extended along the wall. Despite the lack of cephalopods I really enjoyed my visit and was fascinated by the varieties of fish, eels, stingrays, the single dugong, sharks, and penguins. I took lots of photos and used them as reference for this A3 size ink, watercolour, and colour pencil piece.
· Codex Seraphianus
I have been thinking more and more about my plan for a Bestiary of the Aquatic Planet, essentially a detailed documentation/encyclopaedia of my imaginary world, and have been researching similar texts, which led to my discovery of the Codex Seraphinianus. Published in 1981, and created by Italian artist, architect and industrial designer Luigi Serafini, this fascinating encyclopaedia documents an imaginary world with comprehensive illustrations accompanied by an indecipherable language invented by the author. I felt so inspired by this beautiful surreal work.
· Voynich Manuscript
Another text I have been looking at is the mysterious Voynich Manuscript, much older than the Codex Seraphinianus, having been carbon dated to the 15th century, but similarly written in a language which to this day has not been deciphered. The purpose of the work remains unknown but it contains many drawings of plants and flowers and a section of circular diagrams. Looking at the writing systems in these books brings up for me childhood memories of writing in “alien language”, letting my pen move across the page at random to create something that looks like a text but has no meaning.
· Optophobia
I finally finished my zine. This is the first zine I’ve made in over ten years and it has more writing in it than I would normally include, which makes me feel a little vulnerable. It’s a small collection of short surreal comics. I’ll be adding it to my shop soon.
· Burwood Art Prize
I was chuffed to be a finalist in this year’s Burwood Art Prize with my ink drawing Meditation Piece. This piece explores the ritual of meditation and the sensations and ideas that it can evoke, particularly the sense of a still pool of water within.
Currently Reading:
The Soul of An Octopus: A Surprising Exploration of one of the World’s Most Intriguing Creatures - Sy Montgomery
