Holly Scoggins, Protest (2018)
Inspired by the captivating beauty of a distant fire and much in line with poet William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience, these works present an amalgamation of aesthetic beauty with a perilous undercurrent. Created by superimposing vintage photographs into images of current events and destinations, these derivative paintings juxtapose the innocent, idyllic world of youth against the reality of our current setting. Two different perspectives in one image seek to find a common thread of innocence and experience through paint.
Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies.
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand, dare seize the fire?
And what shoulder, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain,
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp,
Dare its deadly terrors clasp!
When the stars threw down their spears
And water'd heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
Tyger Tyger burning bright,
In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
William Blake
This exhibition is part of the Arts on the Park Series.