“There is only one Phoenix at a time… No person has ever seen this bird eat.”
“The bird was also said to regenerate when hurt or wounded by a foe, thus being almost immortal and invincible — a symbol of fire and divinity.
At the end of its life-cycle the phoenix builds itself a nest of cinnamon twigs that it then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix arises. The new phoenix is destined to live, usually, as long as the old one.”
and so i’ve, finally, fully embraced the idea of the creature i most closely resemble (immortality and divinity notwithstanding) by having my name, in seal-script, carved on a chop with a carved phoenix on the top:
this is my seal.
it is my intention to use this chop as a replacement for a signature on my paintings. it’s not a pretentious move, i have a specific motive: to be able to identify my work as well as refrain from removing the viewer’s focus from the work itself. the times i have signed my work, i have tried to use the back of the painting if i can, but when there is a specific request to sign the front i have three major issues: pencil flakes off of canvas ground, charcoal smudges and dusts off, and oil signatures are sloppy (and draw attention to the signature). i’m most satisfied with my work when i don’t have to mar the composition with my signature, thus, most of my work has no identifying mark. the pursuit of aesthetic drives me to find a compact, consistent and still recognizable way to identify my work, and after studying Sumi-e and Japanese woodblock in contrast to the way western painters traditionally make identification, the seal makes perfect sense for me as a modernist.
i chose traditional seal script not because i am trying to bring Sinophilia to a higher level, but because i couldn’t think of a better way to use the space on a chop. traditional seals manage to be informative, beautiful and aesthetic. the chinese language is very well suited for the kind of art a carved seal can be. it’s function and form, graceful and utilitarian, just what i’m looking for.
(thanks to wikipedia and Dave’s Mythical Creatures for the concise and clear descriptions!)
