Marylin Jia – The Artists Proof

Initiator Artist: Marylin Jia
Artwork Title: The Artist’s Proof
Size:
Medium: Photography
Price:  $25

Responder Author: Elana O’Loskey
Writing Title: I’m a Marked Woman
Price:  $25

I live in a world of marks; art made on the human body. From the earliest times tattoos have been a primary source of human self-expression. As a tattoo artist they fascinate me. I immerse myself in the world of ancient cultures who’ve raised tattoo designs to an art form. Mythical animals, birds, sea creatures, protective symbols, deities with magical powers all tell the wearer’s story, important enough to live on their skin.
Most artists covet their materials. Ultramarine Blue made from gem grade lapis lazuli is one of the rarest colors in an artist’s palette. The name means “beyond the sea.” I am lucky enough to have a small stash of the pigment, said to be mined in Afghanistan – the best source since the Bronze Age. It was used in the funerary mask of Tutankhamun, 1341 – 1323 BCE. I guard it jealously. A friend brought it to me from Zecchi – Colori – Belle Arti, an Aladdin’s cave of art supplies in Florence. Its luminous qualities depend on the aggregate of minerals contained in the rock. It always contains lazurite and often contains calcite and pyrite. It can also contain diopside, amphibole, feldspar, mica and sodalite. If it contains sodalite it can also fluoresce. Under ultraviolet light, orange to red fluorescence appears. As a child I had an elaborate mica collection; the way it plays with light fascinated me.
My method of creating a tattoo design and bringing it into being is a secret. But one phase of it is to test the markings on my own body. My body becomes the canvas to prove the design. Do people react to the symbols and markings? What do they think the marks mean? Are the colors meaningful to them?
You are my audience. Would you:
– accept a handshake from a hand adorned by Ultramarine Blue?
– cross the street if you saw the marks that looked like writing on my arm, or ask, “What does it say?”
– venture a guess as to what the squiggles of blue are that run up and down my arm like a vine entwining a pole?
I can’t wait to apply more Ultramarine Blue. But I won’t tell you where.

Copyright 2024 by Elana O’Loskey