Description
How I made it.
I made this blue whale piece by cutting out pieces of plywood with a jigsaw and painting them with acrylic paint. The whale shape itself floats above its background because each shape is glued and screwed to a wooden batten. This acts both as a separator, and support for the whale. The shape of the background inspired this artwork. Actually it was an offcut from when I was making a specially-shaped shelf for my easel.
The whale itself has some gritty texture on its surface, as well as a few specks of silver leaf to reflect light and give an element of preciousness to the whole.
Why a blue whale.
Whales are beautiful, enormous, intelligent and mysterious creatures of the deep that feature in countless myths and stories throughout history. They are also endangered, both because of hunting, pollution and the huge quantities of drifting plastic waste in the seas. They are ancient creatures and move through the vast distances of the depths with grace, peace and forbearance. The genus of whale depicted here is more a sperm whale than a blue whale, given the shape of its head, but my intention was to pay homage to whales in general. Blue is the colour of the sea and the sky and simply felt to be the right colour for this artwork.
The meaning of whale stories.
The whale swallows Jonah, who lives inside its belly for a few days before getting out. Pinochio does too. What do these stories mean?
Jordan Peterson gives an interesting explanation of the story of Jonah from a psychological perspective, which you can see here (from about 25 mins).
And you can see the most beautiful animation of Pinochio and the whale , from the classic 1940 Disney film, here.
Full artwork image below:
