[CO] THE FOMORII UNION

Artist- OTTO RAPP : OFFSPRING OF TIAMAT - THE FOMORII UNION

(​acrylic glazes and egg tempera on canvas, mounted on masonite - 2009)

Hi Artisteemers,

This is my entry post to the contest ‘Curate your artist’s friends work’!
This amazing artwork belongs to a great artist and a friend in my real life, his name is ‘Otto rapp’.
Otto is a true spirit artist. He has has been an artist for his whole life. His soul,his personality, his life, his mind, and everything about him is an art. I had a great time with him and introduced him to Artisteem. See my video with Otto Rapp here:
https://steemit.com/artisteem/@siamcat/litxdkt7

Part of the interview with Otto

‘’When I paint now, I created my own inner universe, in which I fantasised. A lot of people were looking at my artworks and they said to me, ‘you must bee taken drugs’ but I said, no! I don’t take drugs, I am the drugs! Drugs would actually hold be back.My drugs is my inspiration.’’

Otto Rapp.

About this artwork, (the description from Otto himself)

"These are universal archetypes that may be found deep inside our collective subconscious. While seemingly extraterrestrial and alien, they are also strangely familiar. I take the viewer into an area that they might have been before in another existence or have entered in their dreams. It is a 'method in this madness' but everything arises by elimination of conscious guidance. The work grows seemingly by itself, like frost flowers on a windowpane."

This painting was the beginning of a series (mostly drawings) with the titles of FOMORII.
I usually do not explain my work in such detail, this is a exception. I want to leave it up to the beholder to find their way like in a dream, based on their own personal aechetypes. The best interpretation by a friend whom I asked what they see in it:
"Tiamat's children: Born to the sea, they drift upon undulating waves of shimmering, phosphorescent krill mirroring the starry night skies above, while others resemble the bizarre creatures dwelling deep beneath the surface".
I like to add some basic information for the names in the title Fomorii:

In Irish legend, a race of (one-­eyed) demonic beings who lived in Ireland and fought off successive waves of settlers. They were finally expelled by the Tuatha Danann (people of thegoddess Danu) in the second Battle of Muighe Tuireadh (Moytirra). Their most prominentleader was Balar of the Evil Eye, killed by Lugh Tiamat:

In Babylonian mythology, Tiamat is a goddess who personifies the sea. Tiamat is considered the monstrous embodiment of primordial chaos. Although there are no early precedents for it,some sources identify her with images of a sea serpent or dragon. In the Enuma Elish, the Babylonian epic of creation, she gives birth to the first generation of deities; she later makes war upon them and is killed by the storm­god Marduk. The heavens and the earth are formed from her divided body.

My opinion to this artwork

After reading the description from Otto, my first thought was wow! Those words came from his fantasy, his inspiration as an Artis and as a creator of art. How many of us (as the audience)would really understand those words? I can’t understand them completely but I can feel the spirit of the creator which cerated his work out of his own inner universe. The colors and the lines and the details represent the perfectionist of the artist. The painting gives me an impression of being in another dimension of the universe. A place where the spirits of good and bad reigned. Like Otto said to me,

’’look at the painting and let it talk to you, than tell me what you can see’’…

@siamcat ❤️

Original source reference:

https://steemit.com/art/@thermoplastic/offspring-of-tiamat-the-fomorii-union