Our Dark Arts collaboration features artists who promote the mystery and beauty of life, through their creative works.

Dark Artist | Phoenix Savage

Part 2:
In my return to mystery and darkness and joy, I have selected a few more images that revel my thoughts and making process in the creation of my artwork. I have also mixed in a few works by other artists that intrigue me.

I often work large and sadly this becomes a problem when it comes to storing the works. What has happened is that many of the works no longer exist. As is the case with this installation that was over 7 ft tall and 6 ft deep. Keeping the bamboo poles and the metal jig that held them just got to be too much. The heads are made of porcelain and have been remixed into other sculptures that needed heads. This sculpture was very instrumental in my winning a Fulbright Fellowship to study the Yoruba Concept of Ori/head. In Yoruba culture the human head is the most significant element of life. If I had to make a pecking order it would look something like, Head, Water, Mother, Orisha, Ancestors, God, Language, Nation.

Genesis

This was one of my largest installations. And was actually two in one. The birds fly via the red string that connects into the installation called Genesis. The wall with the black magnolia leaves was over 70 feet long. I wanted to reference that there are multiple origin stories and while Genesis may be the most ubiquitous one, there are a plethora of Genesis in the world. Here I have taken elements of the Yoruba Genesis story and used the first of the 256 Odu patterns (Ogbe) that detail how the world functions, seen here in red glittered orb, the next one is the third of the Odu, (Iwori) in red and black/representing II. Birds, figure prominently in my work as they are the universal mothers.

My use of Magnolia leaves speaks to their role in the universe as being one of the oldest species and their association to Southern culture. It is thought that the Magnolia tree came into being so that bees would have something to feast upon. I hand paint the magnolia leaves, black, I select each leaf by going around the neighborhood and asking folks if I can pic the fallen leaves from their yards. I think folks are rather happy since magnolia leaves rarely biodegradable and need to be raked and tossed out.

I love that they look like leather once they have been painted. It is not likely that I can use them again. Once the leaves have fully dried, they are brittle and crack easily and would also require repainting so it is best to begin with a fresh batch of leaves, which are seasonal thus such an installation can only happen once a year.

This sculpture titled Joy’s Ogede is a play on words. First, Joy, is my birth name, while I rarely use it, it is the name given me by my parents, and the one my family refers to me when speaking. Some attempt to call me Phoenix, but it just does not sound right. Those that know me only as Phoenix would feel the same way if asked to call me Joy. The word “Ogede” like many, many words in Yoruba language that have the same spelling but are pronounced differently, based upon the accent markings as you can see in this image above. Ogede is the word for banana, as well as incantation. The main object in the large red room installation is a black banana with an ear. It can hear you.

Marie Thérèse Coincoin

An empty chair or bench is always a mystery to me. It asks the question who has been here and who will be here next? Unless you spy on a chair or bench forever you can never know the answer. This is a cast iron bench at Melrose Plantation in Natchitoches Parish, LA a site of great history and fame. Once owned and operated by the son of Marie Thérèse Coincoin, an African woman who is the mother of the Cane River Creoles. This site is also the former home of Clementine Hunter, one of the most prolific folk artists of our times. My cryptic information cannot do it justice; you will have to go and learn for yourself. Here is starting point: Marie Thérèse Coincoin

I am in love with the art installations of Chiharu Shiota https://www.chiharu-shiota.com/ she creates some of the most mindful breath-taking installations I have ever seen. Please go to her IG page where her newest installation I hope is there with video performances during the lockdown. Each performance video will be uploaded every Saturday at 5 pm CET on Instagram and Facebook. The series will be available online until April 18, 2021.”

Chiharu Shiota

Mother Nature is the greatest artist of all times. As artists we spend a lifetime attempting to duplicate, or please her, and it is just not possible. She does not need our accolades. Her capacity to self-create in spite of the horrors we as humans hurl at her, and in spite of the praise we espouse to her, she carries on, sometimes with unforgiving payback. I love her because she is like a cat, she doesn’t give a damn what you say, she has her own agenda and one way or another we will give in to her demands. One of my childhood fetishes is hunting for four leaf clovers. When I was 16, I found four in one day back-to-back in the sidewalk cracks of West Philly. I have never found another one since. I suspect those four were enough good luck for a few lifetimes.

David Hammons performing Bliz-aard Ball Sale, 1983, Cooper Square, New York. Photo by Dawoud Bey, courtesy of Tilton Gallery, New York.

David Hammonds

To know the art of David Hammonds is to know great creative social satire. He is amazing, here he is circa 1983 selling snowballs to New York City pedestrians. He even offers them in a variety of sizes and shapes, marketing genius!!! To read more and reach for a fuller understanding of Hammond’s, works, (mind you, you can never fully capture his mindset. Just a glimpse is all anyone will ever get. He is life a black male version of mother nature- he don’t give-a-fuck.) I love his works as much as that of Mother Nature’s their attitude is the main ingredient in their creativity. Bliz-aard Ball Sale

These last two images are imbued with man-made mystery- the top image is a Haitian Veve, it must be drawn on the ground by human hands that summon the Loa to come and be among us, possess us even and teach us. The pattern is the pathway the Loa travel to reach earth, each Loa has their own Veve drawing. These drawings are powerful by the end of the ceremony the Loa have returned and the drawing has disappeared as well. The last image is of a wishing well found in the lower lobby of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art in W.D. C. I took this image on one of my trips there, I always photograph it each time I go there. I am in love with wishing wells. When I was young I was fascinated by the glimmering coins in the water, the idea that I could close my eyes, turn my back, make a wish and toss my coin into this place that I would never see again, where did the coin go, who grants the wish….? I had a host of unanswered questions about this seemingly benign idea. I still have a host of questions about it and I still toss a coin in every wishing well I encounter.

In honor of Darkness, Thank you.

For centuries the usage of the phrases Dark Arts and Black Magic have cemented the words darkness and black to evil. This prejudicial usage is a cornerstone of empire culture. Our Dark Arts Feature will highlight artists who create human freedom by pushing back against this mythology and dogma.

DARK ARTS ARCHIVE

Viva la Vulva LA
Phoenix Savage (Part 1)
Phoenix Savage (Part 2)
Chris Wells
Cole James
Dra. Rocio Rosales Meza
Xiana - Black Sun Academy