Errant Airplane

Today the temps were bearable due to the hard rain that had started falling during the previous night and continued, off and on, most of the daylight hours, so I first took a walk around the neighborhood relatively early (collecting another big bunch of nymph shells -- wet soft ones -- in the process), then went to my doctor's office down the block (yes, the mini-mall in my apartment complex actually hosts a doctor's office;  my doctor was a little shocked that I hadn't eaten anything for a full day to prepare for the recommended blood test -- yes, Koreans are big eaters;  btw the phlebotomist had a very hard time drawing my blood;  I actually joked that I don't seem to have any blood left), then walked around some more, and came upon this:

It was so adorable I briefly considered keeping it, but then I realized that pin at the front was supposed to have a propeller on it.

I didn't like the thought of bringing a broken toy into my home (Hans Christian Andersen wrote about a defective toy in "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" and look what happened to it), so I put it back.  So call me superstitious, but it saved me the trouble of having to throw salt on it and burn sage and pray over it with texts from Christian and Buddhist scriptures to cleanse the negative energy.  Just kidding.

Some 'Lost' Old Art

AND A CURIOUS MISTAKE



This piece was the central attraction at a show I had way back when, at the Simard & Halm gallery (which no longer exists). It was during a troubled and somewhat desperate time for me, and when it was sold I was only too glad to get the money; I didn't bother asking who the buyer was (I suppose I just assumed I could always ask later, only the gallery soon went out of business and I gradually lost contact with Mssrs. Simard and Halm), nor did I remember to document it; so all I have are these low-quality images from a magazine review. Which is why I say it's 'lost'.

It's a kind of temple-mandala-stupa with four sides, with three of its sides showing images with dreamlike -- or nightmarish -- themes:   St. Anthony assailed by devils;   a nude and rather voluptuous St. Margaret with a dragon;   a toy airplane in both the actual (sculpted) and dream (painted) versions (check here: Dreaming Lucid) -- and the fourth side was open, revealing a hollow interior in which hangs what might be a skinned carcass (not shown in these photos); all very Vajrayana Buddhist if you ask me, despite the presence of Christian saints.

What I only just realized today is that the figure of St. Anthony (right panel in the first photo) is mislabeled as 'Jacob' -- I literally just realized the error as I was preparing to upload these pictures. Given that the Temptation of St. Anthony is a major theme in Christian art, the story of Jacob is also famous, and I am well familiar with both, it is strange that I should have conflated the two. But then, as I stated at the beginning, this all happened during a period in which I was beset with issues.

One last thing -- it was never quite finished. I was seriously pressed for time, and in the mad rush to get the piece into a presentable state for the gallery opening, I had to cut a few corners; that is why the base and the plaques bearing the sub-titles are so plain and simple, in contrast to the rich ornamentation in the rest of the piece. Had I had more time to work on it, everything would have been as elaborately finished as the main 'building'. In fact, I was still touching up the St. Margaret panel when guests started arriving. Later the curator chucklingly told me that some of them noticed the paint was still wet.