Kali

Comment

Comment by Tahani Henion on March 8, 2015 at 5:28pm

Thank you for you like and comment.  I intended for the images within it to be subtle, to be surprises over a period of time for the viewer.

This was originally a photograph of a stunning sunset over an island.  As I do not have a decent camera and, regardless, enjoy taking others' visions and combining them with mine to make something entirely new and blended.  I absolutely loved the colors and shapes in the photo, so I asked permission from the photographer to use it as a base for my Photoshop art.  This is generally how I do my work.

Thanks again.

Comment by Resident Curator on March 8, 2015 at 4:28pm

Curator’s Comments: 

Kali is an evocative digital work; presenting a ghostly central figure, while the transformation of light and color dominates the abstracted forms.  The transition of warm hues in the foreground to the cooler background also presents a spatial shift from front to back, as the organic shapes move the eye vertically within the piece. Formally, I enjoy the ambiguity of the image, and the pooling areas of analogous color.  The darkened bottom (skirt?) of the figure provides interesting visual contrast and pictorial rest from the flowing movement elsewhere.  I admit I might not have seen the other embedded elements within the winged shapes if I hadn’t read your comments.  They are subtle enough to layer content within the picture, while allowing a hierarchy of design.  But I’m also curious about the acknowledgments of other photographers captioning many of your artworks.  Are these collaborative endeavors, or have you appropriated other photographs to move them beyond their original intent? 

Comment by Tahani Henion on October 19, 2013 at 5:15pm

Thanks for the like, Jason.

Comment by Tahani Henion on August 13, 2013 at 9:48am

I actually wanted to re-imagine Kali.  She's a goddess representing a great deal of suffering in the process of change.  I'd like to think we can all reach a point where our transformations can be much gentler and less unpleasant.

Comment by Tahani Henion on August 13, 2013 at 9:46am

Kali is a goddess of transformation.  A lot of this picture sort of volunteered itself as I worked with it.  You've got a sperm and egg at the bottom.  In the bottom wings are an infant, a dreamer, and two lovers twined with each other.  The upper wings have five faces representing different moods and phases of our lives, and above the wings is a figure that represents the ultimate transformation at the end of life.  And, of course, the butterfly is, just by its existence, the ultimate representation of transformation.  Thanks for your comment and for asking.