A detail of the first image from the Magical Calendar project. The full image will be revealed first to those who purchase the print, available this coming Friday.
The image is a silver print, hand colored and painted. Other details for the calendar are rendered in india ink and paint.
To be notified as soon as this print, limited to an edition of only 13, is available, please email rikgarrett@gmail.com with the subject "magical calendar."
The inspiration for this image comes from a long history of portraying the figure of Lilith as a serpent figure, bearing knowledge.
Possibly the most famous representation of this is Michelangelo's
Temptation and Fall from the
Sistine Chapel Ceiling.
For more images of this throughout history, visit here.
I'd been fixating on this subject while on our honeymoon in Vienna. While there, we visited a museum of Medieval armor and chanced upon this:
It was at this point that I decided that it made perfect sense for Lilith to be the first month of this year in magic.
Besides working on other projects, I've been pushing forward with the Magical Calendar project - finishing up the little details on the original piece for January, as well as planning the rest of the year.
Over the course of the year, I intend on tying together themes, imagery, symbols and beliefs from a variety of magical, mythological and religious belief systems from around the world. I'll be drawing connections (many already well established, some less so) between traditions including Alchemy, ceremonical magic, Thelema, Paganism, Gnosticism, classical mythology and more. This isn't cafeteria-style pick-and-choose syncretism, but rather my personal way to visually draw connections between different paths and traditions. Rather than being a form of proselytization for any certain belief system, the result will be an open-ended exploration. Whether you are well-versed on subjects mentioned or have no interest in them at all, if you enjoy my other artwork I believe that you'll love this project. The first three months' themes will be: January - Genesis (Lilith) February - Language of the Birds March - Babalon As previously mentioned, each month's print will be made available on the second Friday of the previous month. In order to account for the holidays, the January print is planned to be released one week early, on December 7th. Each print will be 13x19 inches, printed as an archival inkjet print on rag photo paper with no optical brighteners, signed and numbered in very limited editions. The price of each print is planned to be $200 USD. January's Lilith print will be limited to a very small edition of only 13. In order to assist those who wish to collect the entire year's worth of prints, those who purchase any print will have early access to purchase others throughout the year. For example, if you purchase the January print, you will have the ability to purchase the February print one day before the general public. As an additional bonus, anyone collecting the entire year's calendar will also receive for free an additional 13th print not available for purchase otherwise. If you wish to be notified of the release of the first print, please send an email to rikgarrett@gmail.com with the subject "calendar updates."
Nearly a year ago I thought I would pick this up as a way to document all of the things that I'm working on. Apparently I'm not very good at this. Besides being busy, I also don't seem to like showing things before they are finished.
In March I finished a handmade book, Vitriol. It's something of a minor work in my long-running Alchemical book cycle. Here is a video where I discuss it a bit:
A month ago today, I got engaged. It's true. Jane and I are going to get married next summer.
After working on my Symbiosis series for nearly a year and a half, I finally put some of images online. I've spent the past month or two preparing a series of handmade Symbiosis books which contain 14 images. The pages themselves I've printed on Hahnemuhle smooth rag 308 gm paper - archival, no optical brighteners. It's a nice, thick paper that closely resembles the watercolor paper that I like to use for some of my handmade book projects. The book contains a wonderful introduction written by Danielle Ezzo (http://www.danielleezzo.com/), which typographical assistance by Howard Forbes (http://www.misanthrope.com/). The pages are bound with a soft pink cover, and the whole series is limited to only 24 copies. The books will be released on the summer solstice (this Tuesday). I've been offering an advance order until then. On Tuesday I will release more information, and then the price rises just a bit. For more information, visit: http://www.rikgarrett.com/symbiosis.php
Last week I finally put some more images from my Earth Magic series online. Here is one of them:
Finally able to begin showing images from this series. This original work is now available for auction via Daniel Cooney Fine Art. It is part of a curated auction, "Shades of Grey," which has been curated by Danielle Ezzo.
