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VOLKER

VOLKER

Name: Volker, From Animalia Part of  Whimsical Kingdom Series.

Medium: Digital  | Year: 2016 | Time to completion: 36 hours 

Quote: “I ask people why they have deer heads on their walls. They always say because it’s such a beautiful animal. There you go. I think my mother is attractive, but I have photographs of her.” ~ Ellen DeGeneres

Facts: On average, more than 6 million deer are killed by hunters in the United States per year, while approximately 10 million Americans hunt deer each year. In addition, more than 1.5 million deer are killed by automobiles every year.

Reflection: I so want to share with you, my fellow humans, the beauty of the animals and the Earth. To enjoy it together, marvel at it, be healed by it; be moved to treat the wonder of creation with great respect. We would be healed then, humans, animals and the Earth. What we do not attend to cannot reach us. That little deer calls us to attend. by Susan B. Eirich

Animalia Series, 2016

I decided to start my series by bringing to life a kingdom that has always captivated me, the animal kingdom. “Animalia” is a deep look into the beauty and spirit of the natural world. Animals possess a natural instinct and vitality that I admire and respect. I believe that if you take a closer look at nature you will understand everything better. Ultimately, humans possess an animalistic subconsciousness that goes beneath and beyond the scope of personal consciousness, and we are completely unaware of it. If you take a look at human animalistic behavior around the world you will not be able to deny that we are part of a single family. We are all inextricably interconnected. I try to speak for them and us through this series by producing bodies of work portraying the beauty of this kingdom in hopes to enrich and generate awareness by selecting animals I am drawn for various reasons. On each of them you will see a collage of many elements and forms, regular and irregular shapes, triangles, polygons, mandalas, curves, and jewels, mystic and underlying spiritual symbolisms transformed and speaking to each other in harmony, allowing the viewer to do the completing, the reflection of self.

“Human beings are a part of the animal kingdom, not apart from it. The separation of “us” and “them” creates a false picture and is responsible for much suffering. It is part of the in-group/out-group mentality that leads to human oppression of the weak by the strong as in ethnic, religious, political, and social conflicts.”

— Marc Bekoff ~  Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Whimsical Kingdom  

Whimsical Kingdom is an evolving art series part of the process of personal introspection and space to further emphasize thoughts of reflection. I intended to create an ongoing dialog with the viewer by stimulating visual sensation and exploring the relationship between the duality of the seen and unseen realm and complexity of our beings. Nature, people, fantasy, and sexuality come alive in unique kingdoms with whimsical characters portraying how seemingly opposite forces are synergetic, interrelated, and interdependent. Colorful symmetric mosaics are mixed with jewels, shadows, elements of power, and underlying spiritual symbolisms while contrasting organic structures create the visual impact necessary to deliver a message that serves as a medium for reflection and awareness about personal and social exploration.

I don’t have a formal education in the arts; my creative work is an intuitive and self-taught process. In my life, I’ve noticed that the most important decisions I make are based on intuition and this piece of work reflects this instinct.  I use mosaics in most of my work because I feel they are a juncture for drawing, painting and sculpture. When you see the details of my work, you will see this series somehow represents a part of myself. The conceptualization of each series, selection of each character and research to create the right composition of design elements is often the hardest part of the process. Everything after that is an assembly of a digitally rendered piece of art to be printed on different media; using Adobe illustrator software, the total time for the development of each piece from start to finish can take 35 to 45 hours of work depending on the complexity of the piece.
All images are copyrighted © by Franz Israel. The use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission from the artist is obtained.

Music by Bensound.com

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