Paper Monsters

Truly the word “monster” comes from monstrare, “to show,” although the Romans long associated the word with the Latin monsestro, a derivitive of the verb monere, “to warn strongly.” At many periods of time, monsters were seen as portents sent by the gods or by God to admonish people for their sins. And even when taken as amusements or as God’s “joke,” the undertone to the word “monster,” its lining, has linguistic vestiges of the moralizing effect of, “to warn.” Although, over the centuries, we have called beings who have never mastered our manners and rules monsters because they operate outside our social realm, we also call monsters those who are less than human but somehow, apparently, other than animals—beings caught in a complex netherworld of belonging only to themselves, but never, no matter how close, to us.

“

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from Natural Anomalies and Historical Monsters by Rosamond Purcell.

I just wanted to share this excerpt because it really jumped out at me when I read it and it’s relevant to this blog. Particularly I was amazed by the original meaning of the word which is how I have chosen to use it in the creation of this site. I’m revealing my inner monsters, which in this case, are the various things I’ve chosen to create. Also the part about monsters only belonging to themselves really connected with me personally and in relation to art. I’ve found it’s important to completely own yourself, because in choosing to belong to others, there is a danger in getting lost. So in a sense, monsters are those beings that know themselves and are free and it’s no wonder people have always tried to destroy them. Art too, must first and foremost belong to the artist. You can try and disown your art, but the ultimate truth is, it’s still yours and no one should be able to take that away from you. They may try, and in theory they may succeed, but ultimately the artist always owns their art and should uphold the responsibility that merits.

Turn on

I actually wrote this in early September.

Turn on the madness

Turn on the love

Heat burns

Heartbeats alive

While passion ignites

On electric lips

Turn on the madness

Turn on the love

Breathy whispers

Blow faintly

Tantalizing impatient ears

Sucking in desire

Turn on the madness

Turn on the love

Dirty hands

Fondle tousled hair

Earth sidling sweetly

Penetrating pores

Turn on the madness

Turn on the love

Sweat climaxes

Flooding skin

Gleaming bodies

Evaporate into the night

Release your inner monster.

Rough draft of an idea I have for a photo project involving different textures and fruit.

Please comment if you like or don’t like. I’d really like some input on it.

More from my Sketchbook project. It’s crappy and depressing, but hey that is what’s coming out. Gotta let it out.

Fatal Kiss

Poison apple tongues flicker their ripe neon glow
illuminating pretty mouths, sharp and full
like pink razorblades.

Tight teeth in tidy rows crash –
in a flash of
insatiable liquid hunger.

Punctured flesh
spills blood like tiny cherries
chainlinked across elegant necks.

The night feeds;
Enticement heaves
ensnaring vacant eyes pulsing white heat,

and fragrant taunts shatter limp-wristed torment
with a fatal kiss.

Self-portrait 10.26.09