Troubled Skies, monotype with media, 18 x 25 in
28
JUNE, 2023
     Wings are the expression of the aspiration of the soul towards a higher than human condition, in other words the aspiration to transcend the human condition. Â
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M.A. Carrillo de Albornoz & M.A. Fernández, The Symbolism of Wings
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Our Lady of the Harbour, hand cut collage, 4.5 x 6 in
     The most obvious symbol of wings is freedom. If we had wings, we would be able to fly to wherever we want. We could cross rivers and oceans and fly over mountains…Â
Where the Wings Come From
Page from my Interconnections artist’s book, mixed media on acetate, 12 x 8 in
Time to Put On Your Big Girl Pants, hand cut collage, 7 x 9.5 in
One Wing
The Lonely Outcast
So, why am so strongly attracted to portraying one-winged figures? Well, it may have started with my favorite fairytale, Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Wild Swans“, which I had read over and over again as a child. In this story, a princess’s eleven brothers have been cursed and turned into swans. A fairy tells her that she can break the curse by knitting them shirts from stinging nettles and not speaking for a year. She attempts to do this, but in the end runs short of time. The sleeve of the last shirt is unfinished, so the youngest brother retains one wing.
The In-Between
The Spell is Broken, mixed media collage on vintage book cover, 19 x 11 in
  When You Speak to the Birds, mixed media collage, 14 x 9.5 in
For me, the wings in my work have always symbolized a transformation in process. The being with one wing is on the way to moving to a higher plane of existence. It indicates that they aren’t quite there yet; they’re still learning and growing, but some day they will fly.
    Flight Path, original collage, 11 x 8 in
       The One Winged Angel is an old symbol representing, yes, the lost or the fallen, but it’s also a symbol of incompletion and loneliness…    ImpureTale, Tumblr
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Drawing on the symbolism of the aforementioned fairy tale, The Spell is Broken, left, depicts a woman somewhere in the process of a magical transformation. My intent was to leave the direction of the change ambiguous: is she turning into a bird, or is she once again becoming her true self, a human?
Phoenix, monoprint with mixed media, 22 x 10 in
 We Are Stardust
“At the most basic level, we are made of the same stuff as the stars, the trees, the air, the ocean. Having come from the same source, we are all connected in the most intricate ways, both visible and invisible. This belief is expressed by the transposition of objects, the overlapping of transparent images, and by forms that seem to become something else.”
This quote from my artist statement relates directly to what I wrote above, about it not being so bad to be more than one thing at the same time. In fact, that is, in a very real sense, the way we are all made.
Stronger Than You Know, mixed media collage on vintage book cover, 10 x 14 in
“Except for hydrogen and some helium created in the Big Bang, all of the stuff we, and the Earth around us, are made of, was generated in stars, through sustained fusion or in supernova explosions.”  (NASA, Imagine the Universe)
Not only do we share our elemental makeup with everything in the universe, we also share at least some of our genetic makeup with all living things. Geneticists have found that, as a result of evolution, humans have at least some DNA sequences in common with everything from viruses (8%) to chimpanzees (96%).Â
In light of this, are the one-winged figures really so fanciful? They are symbols of both a psychological truth as well as a physical reality. I’m beginning to see them as a revelation of our true nature, and a confirmation that everything is one.
Page from artist’s book Interconnections, mixed media on Rives BFK paper, 12 x 8 in
Thanks for reading, my dear friends! I wish you all peace, love, and art.
Have U read The Book of Angels by Sophy Burnam- true stories and accounts of people seeing and being w/Angels?
There are many quotes on these pages that will be of use to You.
Cheers,
Felicia
Hi Felicia! Thanks for visiting my blog! No, I haven’t read that book, but I will definitely check into it. Thanks!
Best,
Sharmon