Minkisi Objects

Various pieces of art found thousands of years ago depict characters based on certain events and legends. I will be analyzing two works of art: The Sound Box of the Great Lyre, a wooden music box (33 x 11 cm) found in present-day Iraq c. 2600-2500 BCE, and Lapith Fighting a Centaur, a high metope relief (1.42 m) on the side of the Parthenon in Ancient Greece c. 447-432 BCE. The former represents a bull with a low relief under its head, depicting animals mimicking the lifestyle of humans. The latter exemplifies a nude man struggling against a mythical creature that is half-man half-horse2. Although these works are from across the world with completely different cultures, they both have similar

Royal Arts of Africa show traditional work from the most historic tribal civilizations. Throughout centuries, African Art has enriched royal stature, authenticated noble influence, and honored past and present rulers. The Kom of northwest Cameroon, included in these historic tribal civilizations, molded statues symbolizing their very own royal families and prestige attendants of their kings’. The “Royal Figure” is a prime example of this kind of artwork that has lived through the Kom Kingdom’s history. This piece is constructed out of multiple mediums including wood, Indigo beads, raffia cloth, and iron, but beneath these materials lies a much deeper meaning. Symbolism, daily functions, history, and culture were all brought forward when

In this paper you will see how the drawings that I have presented to you make sense and are not just randomly there. There are names, places, religion, and lines present in this art piece that mean something to me and others as well. I’m from two places and not just one but I spend more time in one place than the other, so somethings of what I have known from the other place have been lost in time and memory. The memories come and go but remain lost because of the fact that they aren’t remembered and from being seen as unimportant to my present when in reality they are just as important. “I write the myths in me, the myths I am, the myths I want to become,” Anzaldua.

The Nok heads and sculptures of Nigeria are made hallow, life-sized terra-cotta figures with a coiling technique commonly used to make pottery vessels (Thames & Hudson, 2015, pg.451). Nok heads were made with clay and although clay is very durable it is also breakable. However, very few sculpture have been found undamaged. The head of the figures was larger than the bodies because the artists wanted to emphasize the association between the head with knowledge and identity. The Nok head below is from Rafin Kura, sculpted in c. 500 BCE-200 CE. Like many Nok heads, this sculpture has a unique hairstyle, with three buns on top. It also has triangular- shaped eyes with holes in the pupils, nostrils, mouth, and

The most influential artist to me in this exemplary in this pursuit for the appropriated traditions is Kehinde Wiley. In his opening speech for the New Republic gallery show he expressed that things such as his work was evolved around the working of chance . In his case, he manipulates the chance of the representation of the black demographic in traditional work. Modifying the figurative works to create the chance for relating a body that is familiar. I see contemporary painter, Kehinde Wiley as a comparable to my work in regards to the topic as well as the manipulation of the human figure. The admirable features I see in Kehinde Wiley’s work in addition to these is the fantasy elements that are incorporated. These features are best exhibited in his piece, “Bound”. The work is a bronze sculpture that stands approximately four feet tall and two-and half feet wide. The composition is inviting as it includes busts of three identical women that have African descent features that are placed on a rounded triangle base. The expressions on all of the faces are of a staring and wondering nature that have a nature of regality as their faces are turned to the right at an approximate forty five degree angle as their all have their back facing each other to form a guard of the leaves the a laid on their base. The bodies are cut organically as it rounds off from shoulder to shoulder, just enough to form the upper torso to see the corset like dress that encompass the figure. Expanding

Throughout history, societies have defined and transformed themselves through their art. When looking at works of art today, a person sees not only the work of art itself, but also the world from which it came from. The same is true for this transformation mask, which reflects the works of art and beliefs of the Northwest Coast Tribes.

The beautiful magic wands of the Egyptian past are a great example of the how the Ancient Egyptians revered their gods, but more importantly, they glorified their living and sanctified their dead. The appearance during the Middle Kingdom of the magic wands in tombs tell a story of a culture that struggled with surviving childbirth. In order to protect their laboring mothers, in this life and the next, the Egyptians evoked deities from their pantheon and spellbound them to a piece of hippo bone. In the magic wands found scattered about Egypt, all possess carvings of knife wielding deities, some were three dimensional and even the material it has made from held great significance.

The use of the oil paint falls from broad and gestural to refined and purposeful. Over all the painting style is semi-loose to retain essential information within the painting. The worm colors bring a comforting feel to the piece of thoughtful solitude and prayer. Although this painting depicts what life may have been to Indigenous people in the 19th century, the artist shows his lack of understanding of the culture. Respect is one of the core values to many planes people and respect goes further than the relationship between people but all things in life such as birds and stone and plants. They all have a sprit that is considered a relative. The problematic aspects of this painting are how sacred items are leisurely treated as objects. The three most noteworthy items are the cha’nupa, cansiga, and waph’a’ha. First, the cha’nupa should be propped up or held and not let be lying on the ground and put together. Second, the cansiga should also be propped up and face up at all times. Finally, an eagle feather or waph’a’ha should never touch the ground. These are things that can be damaging to our own understanding of history, Indigenous culture and spirituality. Although this is just one painting a person without the cultural knowledge could see this and believe that the treatment is tolerable since this is a paining from the past and insightful artist. This paining wile well

Within many Voodoo temples are a variety of idols of lesser deities and altars dedicated to the Iwa, on which images corresponding to the catholic saints are displayed as well as offerings of money, food, flowers, candles and other symbolic objects. “The medium, Iwa, communicate with the faithful through spirit possession, during which the deity "mounts" the body of a worshiper and speaks to the congregation”. The ultimate agenda of all Voodoo worship is creating a balanced well being through human community, harmony, living by the ancestral spirits and obeying the natural

Sculptures came in a variety of shapes and sizes. They were often made of wood, metal, cloth, or clay. These sculptures served as personal protection figures, symbols for supernatural powers, and representation of ancestors. Most sculptures were made to represent the human body, but some cultures never carve human faces so it resembled any individual in fear of accusations of witch craft. A great example of one such sculpture is Cango and Zaire.

The sculptures and paint show details how society viewed and interpreted women body, sexuality, and maternity. In addition, revealed that these women were protected from threats around them with ornaments. Civilizations since early times, believed that we were in permanent threat from forces we do not see or cannot explain and because of it, we protected ourselves with artificial elements in a form of jewelry, crowns or caps. This idea has been continue from one generation to the next to the point that in modern societies some of us still use this type of protection in our bodies (e.g., small cross, divine images, tattoos, etc.).These pieces of art also indicate that humans believed in gods with superpowers and they are looking over us constantly. Humanity also believes in dark forces or demons trying to makes us do things that would upset the good gods. Some of the differences between these sculptures and paint are the material in which each one of them were created. The first figure, the Woman of Willendorf was carved in limestone, the second piece, the portrait of Queen Tiye was carved in wood and the last piece, the Virgin and Child Icon was created of tempera on a wood. You can also notice how the details on their faces and bodies changes throughout the time and years. The woman of Willendorf figurine offers details of a voluptuous nude women’s body but there is not face, or feet. Queen Tiye statue shows the face of a woman in detail closed to the gods but without any body parts and lastly The Virgin and Child Icon, is an expression of divinity of the views, reflections and beliefs from the gospel. Because communities started to innovate on the art of carving and painting, populations began to discover and/or create art with the objective of expressing different purposes of our daily lives, such as the beauty of a woman’s body, or to commemorate an ancient

This is a wooden statue of Kongorikishi, one of a pair of statues found originally in Buddhist temples of Japan in the early 14th century. It stood at approximately eight feet tall and stood as a guard to the temple of Ebaradera located in Sakai, Japan. Unlike most statues of European decent that were made out of materials such as bronze, or various kinds of stone, this Asian piece was made out of wood. When looking closely at the piece, every single cut that was put into the statue is visible What is immediately noticed when looking at this piece is the intimidation that it puts on the viewer. Everything from the body to face is meant to strike fear into anyone that looks at it. With its dynamic pose, the Kongorikishi demands the attention of all that stand before it as well as show that it may be able to strike at any moment, which it does with overwhelming success. Every carving, curve, and detail in the Kongorikishi statue is strategically put together in order to convey this idealistic inhuman being.

The many islands in the ponds have different shapes from different viewpoints. The water and the view from many angles encouraged meditation. In addition, the whole garden has stones and rocks of peculiar shapes. Some are in the shape of tortoise which symbolizes longevity and crane which symbolizes messenger of the gods. A stone under a waterfall called Carp Stone portrays a carp swimming up the stream. This stone is meant to symbolize fighting in times of trouble. Kinkaku-ji is fascinating to me because everything about it has meaning, from the pond to the rocks to the pavilion. The place also has a rich history of survival. After so many reconstructions, Kinkaku-ji itself represents overcoming

     Like African paintings, poetry, and woodcarvings, sculptures tell a tale and immortalize cultures and beliefs. Different artists have different styles (African Arts Information). Materials and styles differ from village to village. Most sculptors use green wood, copper, tin, zinc alloys, bronze, ivory, or terra cotta, a kind of earth ware. Most sculpture figures are believed to contain ancestor’s spirits. Others represent sacred ideas or events (Fetzer 106). Some objects are said to be magical and believed to have magical powers (African Arts). Africans carve figures, make masks, and decorate articles for ceremonies (Fetzer 106).

Within this essay I will try to provide information that explains what “Ouroborus” is, investigate and include text that links the Ouroborus to many different carving cultures that the Ouroborus has had or still does have an effect on, and cover some of the many different impacts this symbol has an those cultures.