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ARKEO 4
November 4, 2009
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ARKEO #4
archival inkjet and collagraph on paper
81 x 61 cm. (32″ x 24″)
For more information on this print, please see Marja-Leena’s blog post about it, and visit her gallery to see the rest of the series.
Marja-Leena Rathje is a Finnish-Canadian artist specializing in printmaking and photography. She is crazy about weathered rocks, prehistoric art and the archaeology of past, present and future. She lives and works near the sea and the mountains of Vancouver and has exhibited widely, both internationally and in her local region.
Categories: Words of Power
Marja-Leena Rathje
qarrtsiluni 
the mythic owl woman in this image reminds me of myself, in calgary, alberta, in the winter, when i was growing up. it can get very cold there. -30 degrees celsius or colder, feeling much colder than that with the wind chill. this is common. so, naturally, it is necessary to bundle up. hats and mittens a must. winter coats and jackets, no question; big and heavy and stiff. as a teenager, looking ‘hip’ was always more important than warmth. this made winter a problem, because the stiff and awkward jackets and coats made me feel unattractive and self-conscious. but it was impossible to ‘not’ wear one. so, like others my age, we would try to retain some semblance of ‘hipness’ by dispensing with the hat and mittens. frostbite, of course, is the risk. and so is static electricity with the cold dry prairie air. this image above, depicts what happens: the hair stands up, the fingers freeze, and the ears fall off and disappear ~
p.s. the mythic owl woman looks much better than i did. beautiful work ~
Karyn, thank you! I grew up in Winnipeg so I know exactly what you mean about cold and dressing for it! Though I wasn’t thinking of cold when doing this piece but it’s very interesting hearing the wide variety of responses from viewers.
I’d like to especially thank Beth and Dave for the wonderful commentary you’ve done here!
The feathery arms get me – something about them strikes me as simultaneously heavy (corded) and light — enough and not enough to meet the cold. (Especially cold-aware at the moment both from reading karyn’s comment and because I’ve just gone from 80-degree Tel Aviv to 50-degree Nashville, and my bones are objecting.)
Also, the contrast between the fuzzy/feathery wings and the iridescent bricks is eye-capturing.