Just finished and delivered this Octopus painting to ZaPow Gallery for the Tentacles & Intoxication Group Show opening September 2017. Some of the symbolism behind this painting is the dual nature of the feeling of intoxication, which I have often experienced as feeling drunk, but with an impending price to pay in pain the next day. This dual nature is depicted by the background imagery of the clouds of heaven and the flames of hell, as well as the octopus’ “costume” – a halo with horns, angel wings and a devil’s tail. The octopus is dancing wildly, with a different type of beer in each of it’s eight tentacles. The symbolism of the stage with deteriorating wooden slats is left open to interpretation.
I also entered a framed digital print of a previous Octopus painting called “Diver Octopus” depicting an octopus partially inside of an abandoned deep sea diving helmet on the ocean floor.
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- “Pick Your Poison” Dancing Octopus
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- Diver Octopus
