My windmills of shallowness

There's a dogfight going on in my mind between Angels & Demons and I'm digging up the bones.

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away from here, there once lived a knight in shining armor who fought a dark army of evil demons. This could be the beginning of an exciting adventure game or a beautiful fairytale, and in a way, you could say that it is. The knight in shining armor has been replaced by a somewhat scattered (young) artist who's fighting his own demons and his windmills of shallowness, and here's where his story begins ...  

For the "Tribal" collection I found the inspiration in my enthrallment for the spiritual world of Angels & Demons and in the superstition. In strong contrast with my "Arté Fact" collection which is more abstract in his nature, the Tribal collection uses a more figurative approach. If you look very carefully you can actually recognize spiritual creatures, nymphs, and goddesses. These little define creatures are a cross- breed between an angel, a demon, a talisman, and a ritual voodoo doll. But they're a lot more than that! Actually, they're more like a guardian angel, a spiritual guide, protecting your homes for all kinds of spirits and influences from the outside.

Symbolism 
(Unfortunately) these days we more and more live in a digital age slowly losing all sense of reality and/or bonding with our roots (our past) to mother nature. These spiritual guides or guardian angels like I love to call them, are like a gateway, re-connecting us to what we've lost. The materials used in these pieces (Burlap, deadwood, clay) symbolizes our lost connection to mother nature. They're natural, soft, fragile slightly inflammable (like me) and they all bare the scares of life. In sharp contrast to these softer natural materials, I used the more rugged (but still very flexible) man-made material "lead". It stands as a symbol for our industrial modern times, and the digital pollution (poisoning) of our brain.

Clay on wood technique
I wanted to create spiritual creatures, half human, half demon/angel, who clearly carry the scars (the burden) of life. Therefore I developed my own technique where the clay is directly baked upon the deadwood without prior drying time. The sudden heating of the moisture within the clay will result that the clay will crack and explode. Afterward, I carefully start picking up the pieces again (like in real life) and start reassembling the figures, intentionally leaving visible cracks behind. The scars of life! 

The Nightwalker 2019
One of the guardian angels in the Tribal collection is the ancient spirit of darkness "The Nightwalker"! His roots lie deep in the womb of mother nature and he's believed to be one of the most powerful spirits of the night. He's long-legged, has a deep dark earthly skin, is dead-silent and only wanders around at night. He's the guardian angel of dreams, a dreamcatcher who hunts after bad dreams and nightmares. He's the opposite of de Boogieman and your spiritual guide of the night.

MORE INFO & AVAILABILITY
For more information and/or availability on one of our art-pieces please feel free to contact us at any time.
Mail: david.torres@arte-noeuf.be
Tel: +32 (0)475/923.657
Adress: David Torres I Verbindingstraat 103 - 2070 Burcht - Belgium