THE ‘IDOUS’ SERIES

 

Erber Iderberous > (erber (Gr) “Herb” id-erber (Lat-Gr) ous - way of being). The ‘ID-ERBER’ is the unorganized part of the personality structure that contains a human's basic, instinctual, botanical drives.  Pertains to a botanical context within the boreal/temperate forests. He is a settler, hermit, magician, alchemist, gentleman, naturalist; an embodiment of botanical and raw natural forces; and is a representation of a component of the artist’s psyche that relates to botany and settlement. 

   

Elsen Idelsenous > ([f]elsen (G) “Stone” id-elsen (Lat-G) ous - way of being). The ‘ID-ELSEN’ is the unorganized part of the personality             structure that contains a human's basic, instinctual, 'geologic' drives. Pertains to a geological context within the volcanic/tectonic landscapes of Iceland. He is an explorer, adventurer, magician, geomancer, gentleman, naturalist; an embodiment of geological and raw natural forces; and is a representation of the component of the artist’s psyche that relates to geology and exploration. 

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In the landscape, one encounters moments of insight. For these experiences we devise innumerable explanations opening up new frames of mind, ways of doing, and fresh perspectives. At times we associate these shifts as embodiments of other ways of being, and catch glimpses of their certain emergent personalities which can seem larger than us - enough so that they hold a certain power to change our way of seeing, if only for a brief moment. 

 

The idous personas are embodiments of these personas viewed as psychological entities. They are ghosts of mind, self-perception and reflection, manifesting themselves in states of being. They define aspects of perception, self-reflection, interaction, and desire as they pertains to direct relationships with the ecologies around them, encompassing and enacting a wide spectrum of ways in which the artist perceives the ‘self’ within this context. They emerge from the juncture between psychology’s taxonomy of mind (’id’, ego, self) and the painting convention of (Ryksfigur), which positions a figure in the landscape to act as guide, thereby situating the viewer in scale and space. The personas are meant to engage an amalgam of theoretical, psychological, cultural, historical, metaphysical and spiritual ideas through the lens by which they interact with the land - interactions relating to a raw, basic, and instinctual interaction to the landscape and one’s place in it, acting as an embodiment of both arrogant and destructive capacities of human interaction with our environs, as well as the creative and participatory aspects of our oneness with the land. In a sense, the personas exist as a vehicle for exploring a deep and complex cultural/personal relationship within the landscape.