SCENTS - SENSE -SENSES

BRAND OF LOVE - AROMA - TRICKERY 

I've often wondered about love, and what exactly the ingredients are, that attract or repel people from each other.

One often encounters couples or friends, who enjoy each other's company but on the surface they seem an unlikely match and totally unsuited to each other. 

Yet, they are able to be, or live together, communicate harmoniously and are perfectly happy and content in each other's company.

I started thinking about how particular I am about wearing certain brands of perfume. Some of the brands I adore are Femme, Chanel no5, Arpege, Rive Gauche, Paloma Picasso

My preference has never changed in 50 years. I'll add a new discovery, but never discard the one's I already love - I guess one could liken it to a slowly expanding Harem. In that respect, I remain faithful to what I love.  But being an artist and so easily falling in love and being inspired by newly discovered beauty and then being so intimately dedicated to caressing the painting at hand, is an indication of certain ingrained characteristics. 

I do not abandon on for the other, I merely interchange, rediscover and add to the repertoire as the need arises.

Is a pianist forced to  play only the first note he touched on a piano, or doomed to perform a favorite composition ad infinitum and then never explore the other possibilities? By nature, creatives need to expand, invent, and be open to unusual and inspiring influences.

Obviously there are artists (but not only artists mind you) who are not morally inclined or diciplined and also practice this trait of total abandon and zero inhibition in their private lives, where it obviously creates havoc. Picaso is one such example.

There is also an interesting thought I had, that someone could deliberately disguise their natural (unappetizing aroma) with a heavy dose of an intoxicating one, thereby performing aroma - trickery! 

So maybe, by dulling or tricking someone else's intuition and finely tuned senses, a cognitive dissonance could develop when the package of nonsense, no longer makes any sense.  

www.aletamichaletos.com

‘EARS ARE FOR KISSING’

‘EARS ARE FOR KISSING’

Aquarelle on paper 

Paris 2007 

90 mm x 140 mm

Whenever I visit Paris, I stay in the Cité Internationale des Arts. I’ve noticed that on all three occasions I’ve been there so far, there has been a definite ‘change of direction’ in my work as far as the subject matter and the technique is concerned. I allow myself the privilege of labeling these pieces, as slightly ‘naughty’!

This ‘shift of focus’ can be ascribed to several factors, all of which exert a direct influence and they are as follows:

1)   Traditionally, I visit the Cité during an icy December/ January, which in itself stretches the modest baggage allowance of 23Kg and hardly allows the luxury of excessive amounts of heavy art material. I make do with my paint box containing aquarelles, an aquarelle pad, pencils, pens, notebooks and camera, with which to satisfy my artistic urges.

2)   There is an entire absence of ‘censorship’ during this period of creative solitude. I have the luxury and freedom to express whatever comes to mind, with the additional bonus of being able to destroy the result, without any explanations. 

3)   Relieved from the many duties I normally perform at home, I am capable of immediate expression of any idea. The direct medium of aquarelle is totally suitable for this very purpose.  At home, I find myself in the situation of mostly working on a ‘backlog’ and often the ‘freshness’ of the idea is compromised.

4)   Paris is the City of Love and one is surrounded by it, day and night! Possibly, living alone for an extended period increases one’s awareness of what you lack and most probably, previously took for granted. It’s understandable that the amount of  ‘kissing’, ‘pouting’, ‘whispering’, ‘stroking’, ‘touching’, caressing and ‘sighing’ that surrounds you, can eventually become rather overwhelming and unsettling! The sight of lovers everywhere transforms you into a unintentional voyeur…… unnerved, as you watch a lover softly brush away the dark locks of his sweet heart and then gently nibble on her delicate, ivory ear…. it sets your heart racing!

5)   And so, literally bombarded with images such as these, you become saturated and need to find creative relief. Infinite varieties of sculptural, organically shaped little ears, resembling sensual shell or floral motives, become the focus of one tiny aquarelle, saturated with erotic emotion and ‘EARS ARE FOR KISSING’ sees the light!

www.aletamichaletos.com

'IDYLLIRIUM'

click on image to expand

‘IDYLLIRIUM’ 
2005/6

1.3 m x 4.5 m
Oil on board
Sold
 

‘The idyllic, frozen in a moment of ecstasy'

Up to date, ‘IDYLLIRIUM’ is the most ambitious of my ongoing body of work, ‘Translucence: Les Filles et Garcons’, where the delicate and translucent application of paint, becomes the perfect vehicle to express fluid and feminine forms and imbue them with a feeling of the ethereal.

This panel is a tribute to femininity. 22 females are depicted and the spectator’s eye is gradually led by the rhythmic and sensual lines formed by their beautiful shapes which result in a haunting yet serene visual melody. The nymphs are oblivious to the indulgence of the spectator and we in turn get a secret glimpse into their private world. Only one of the nymphs, with only her arms visible, dares to have eye contact. 

Nude figures posses ambivalent meanings and imply ambiguous emotions and when the contemplator is confronted with the revealed human forms in ‘IDYLLIRIUM’, the attitude is that of NUDITAS VIRTUALIS = purity and innocence.

Heavy but subtle patterning, inspired by Oriental motifs, contrast with the simplicity of the figures.

Five separate pieces, each measuring 1.3m x 0.9m, are attached to each other, so as to result in the monumental ‘IDYLLIRIUM' that spans a total of 4.5 meters. The ‘feast of females’ - adolescent, delicately boned, blond or brunette, as well as those who are more generously proportioned and sensual, personify the wonderful variety of beauty and femininity to be found in diverse cultures. Some have the angular lines of an Art Deco bronze or ivory figure, whereas others possess the soft sensuality of the ultra-feminine Art Nouveau sirens.

Traces of the subtle influence of Botticelli and Alphonse Mucha, both childhood passions, are suggested.

This freeze is an ode to a place where perfect harmony and beauty exists, where nothing can disturb or disrupt - a Shangrila. 

www.aletamichaletos.com