"Calypso" on Canvas

"Calypso" on Canvas

I am currently studying for exams, which, of course, means that my need for creative outlets has tripled with the amount of stress. The silver lining is I am creating more Joyce art.

Combining my love for print with canvas-in the midst of re-reading "Calypso"--I tore out the first two pages of a 1961 Random House edition of Ulysses and transplanted them onto the canvas.

I also cut out some of my favorite dialogue between Molly and Bloom from this chapter (on the "transmigration of souls"). Next to these lines I drew a symbol of parallax (the infinity sign in red cray pas).

Parallax leads me inevitably to "Penelope." The lines written in pale pink ink and dusky brown are from the final lines of the episode.

On the top of the canvas resides a
plain white plaster square to symbolize the blankness and potential for June 17th, when Molly and Poldy wake up.

On the opposite side is a woman's silhouette cut from another page from "Calypso." She emerges from the page smiling and already formed. She is, like every woman, a paradox--simultaenously an innocent and faithful Penelope and Dido; a treacherous Circe, Calypso, Siren, and Helen; as well as godess-like, Hera and Aphrodite; and of course, parallax itself.

Just another fun bit of Joyceiana! Let me know what you think!

"Calypso"

"Another slice of bread and butter: three, four: right. She didn't like her plate full. Right. He turned from the tray, lifted the kettle off the hob and set it sideways on the fire. It sat there, dull and squat, its spout stuck out. Cup of tea soon. Good. Mouth dry. The cat walked stiffly round a leg of the table with tail on high. ---Mkgnao!...Mrkgnao! the cat cried" (U 55).

"Calypso," where we first meet Leopold Bloom, is full of so many rich images it was difficult to create just one piece for this particular collection series; however, I decided upon something simpler since several of my pieces were more involved and perhaps less wearable ("Proteus" is a prime example of this!). Bloom making breakfast, with the mewing of a persistent cat, seemed a nice place to start! The necklace quotes the "Mrkgnao!" of the cat and symbolically represents Bloom's morning. The charms I selected all are symbols presented in this episode which reverberate throughout Ulysses: Bloom's keylessness (i.e. the key charm), his Jewish heritage (the Star of David charm), his alternate identity as Henry Flower and flowers in general (the flower charm--in full bloom might I add!), and last but not least the tea kettle, which we return to in the end with Molly's monologue in "Penelope." A very wearable piece!