Orpheus in Song and Dance

Curated by Johannes Böckmann

J.B. Interview S.A. on Orpheus Abstractions, January 3, 2019

How did the “Orpheus’s Songs of Longing” painting series come about?

First I thought: What happens if I remove the central figure and am left with just the pattern and color relationships.

But, it’s also connected to what I know as an “Icaros,” which is a Peruvian textile that also functions as a song, or musical idea that is healing or has a psychic imprint. I experienced and collected these when I visited Peru in 2012. The Icaros textiles function as a way to memorize or imprint a musical idea, which is usually sung and sometimes accompanied by flute and simple rhythmic instruments. 

So, with my “Song” paintings, I actually experience as much emotion as I do with the figures. It is an experience of my anima and of Orpheus. In a way, my “Icaros” is connected with Orpheus, for example. This is why I wanted to make my own music — to further connect with and deepen the practice and evocation fo Orpheus.

Is this piece connected to a specific song?

No, for me it’s more ambiguous, a general mood. It’s “Orpheus’s Song” — that is, any song of longing, sadness, of romantic love and loss — but isn’t technical, specific or rational.

So you’re painting mood as a song. It’s a picture of a metaphor!

Well said. The metaphor is a symbol, in the Jungian sense. That is, it is alive — its a mood that live sin us. Just as the “anima” is a metaphor, or Orpheus is a metaphor, but really does animate and define the personalties and experiences of individuals.

Like the anima can be felt through the experience of a real woman, the same with my painting.