LEDA AND THE SWAN

Comment

Comment by susan williams on June 12, 2011 at 6:52am

Thank you for your comments. I am pleased that the drawing gives off an emotionally ambiguous message to the observer. In all my forms I try to pack in as much contradictory "body language" as possible so that the motif floats in a still, resolved  place between conflicting pictorial pressures. Tension and poise are the overall qualities sought and the drawing process is driven by the search for  a dynamic balance between all these opposing elements.

Comment by Resident Curator on June 4, 2011 at 9:53am

Curator’s Comment:

 

I keep looking at this piece, trying to identify the disposition of the figures.  It exhibits a wonderful line quality- the calligraphic measures travel through the piece, and animate the figures.  There is a Classicism to the pose and proportions, and of course this is a classic theme represented.  The phantom like forms float in and out, suggesting the requisite transformation of the swan.  But there's something hard to place about the emotion of the face.  Turning slightly away for the swan, Leda seems resigned rather than enraptured, and the bird's feet consciously oppose the position of her hand- they are entwined in a ying-yang position.  The curve of the bird's body gracefully reproduces the curve of Leda's thigh.  A sensual piece overall, there is also a stillness, or reticence that provides a unique reading of the story.