Symbolism & Iconography in Art

I kept seeing the above image in my head and tried to find it online. Despite knowing it was likely one of Brooke Shaden’s, I couldn’t seem to find it until the other day. It must’ve been the luck of the new moon. Brooke Shaden is well-known in her field and has produced some of the most familiar surrealist photographs in the last decade.

The artwork above was created by Blixxa, who I know nothing about. Although I know Blixxa has collaborated with Mrs White in the past, he was active artistically (on Facebook and DeviantArt, at least) between late 2014 and 2020. Some of the artwork has a slightly apocalyptic feel, and most of it is dark. I find this unpretentious image of a

Patty Maher is a fine art and wedding photographer based in Caledon, Ontario, Canada. Maher began her journey with photography as recently as 2010 and has since achieved international recognition for her work. The faces of her models are frequently obscured to retain an open-ended narrative so the viewer can

Mooching for philosophy podcasts, I came across one by Alain de Botton. In the past, I’ve had little patience for much of what he says since I heard him talk about how money was unimportant and didn’t matter. There was he, all-wise and knowing it all, whilst sitting on an inheritance

A well-dressed man stands on a piece of broken eggshell. In front of him, a newly-hatched giant white egg dominates the scene; tentacles rise upwards from inside the egg. The viewer is left with no doubt they belong to something monstrous and more powerful than the man.

Fold or play. That’s what he said to me. At that moment, I hadn’t realised I was even supposed to be playing. I couldn’t recall where I sat down and agreed to be dealt a hand. I seem to be in a perpetual state of aimlessness. Knowing some artists are more reliable at providing insight than others,

At first glance, this image made me think of how relationships can be a double-edged sword providing both security and a sense of suffocation. Some people, no matter how well-intentioned, simply suffocate the life out of others. They somehow rob their beloved of that vital life force needed to create,

There were two reasons I was drawn to this image. The first was obvious; I liked the picture. The second was more of a kick in the belly from the cosmos, the ones that leave you wondering what the fuck you did to be taunted so mercilessly by life itself. I felt drawn to the title and the concept;

Cheeky Ingelosi, a.k.a Janelia Mould, is a talented self-taught conceptual photographer and digital artist from South Africa. When I first came across Janelia’s work, I felt no hesitation in my desire to explore her images more meaningfully. The pictures chosen for this post are a part of a series

Although there was probably some transference in play, I felt like I'd been thumped when I first saw this picture. This image is harsh on my emotions; does the addition of the title help to nail its impact? I've loved many songs that speak of the impending doom of separation. But, how often

Nothing in this picture suggests anything of solid predictive value; it's a snapshot of where things are at in a moment. At face value, it all looks pretty hopeless. The telephone box is clearly a significant symbol of communication. Although in this case, we have solid indicators that the words,

Now and again, I come across an image slightly different from what usually draws my attention. It will usually represent a once familiar tune that no longer plays, but the memory of the dance it inspired will rattle through my body. Sometimes it creates discomfort, and at other times, joy.

According to his DeviantArt profile, Crilleb50, a.k.a Christer Borgquist, considers himself a hobbyist. Yet, there’s no lack of professionalism regarding the finished product. I couldn’t decide which of these three pictures I liked best; they all deal with slightly different variations of the missing self.

Kasia Derwinska’s art reminds me of the work of Leszek Bujnowski. Kasia has an awful lot of images to look through, but I didn’t even get off the first page before realising she was able to pull the viewer into a place of quiet. However, it’s not because of her choice of subject matter. She evokes

Kathy Grieb Kennedy is one of my top twenty favourite living artists. After spending a good half hour scouting around for images, I remembered I hadn’t paid Kathy’s portfolio a visit in over a month. Kathy’s prolific in her creative output, but there were two in particular that stood out

A couple of years ago, someone randomly sent me this picture with the comment they thought I’d like it, and I did. Despite the image provoking a sense of intimidation, I found it intriguing. I put it to one side for a post but somehow deleted it. I searched high and low

The three images I want to look at in this post were in the same portfolio as the Kraken image I shared the other day. I felt they offered a calm respite from the internal shite threatening to throw me off-balance. The view through each window provides only tiny pieces of information and

The Kraken is known to be a destructive force. Krakens are a recurring theme for me and represent an emotional daemon which lurks in the depths of the subconscious. Symbolically speaking, water correlates to the emotional life. As a guardian of what lies on the bottom

There’s an elegance and a sense of grace to this picture. When I relax into the scene, I wonder about the situations this represents. In reality, a person who metaphorically sails the sea speaks of living a life that is likely to involve being swallowed by whirlpools or caught by a

Paul Rumsey is the artist responsible for creating some of the best penis drawings I’ve ever seen. He’s a great artist irrespective of the content, but the ones containing man’s best friend are just brilliant. Blatantly graphic yet surprisingly analytic. He is one of those people I’d like to sit

I know very little of Novus41, other than he’s a Polish forty-three-year-old who goes by the name of Stanley. Well, that’s not quite all. His bio, translated for free with good ol’ Google translate, says that he does physical work during the day, and his art is created in his spare time.

The following images are all the work of Susanne, a woman living on Sweden’s west coast. I came across her work on DeviantArt; she runs an Art-Psychology group there and openly admits to using art as a form of therapy, along with any writing she does to go alongside it. I

Someone sent this to me a couple of days ago, and it was the second time in as many days that she privately tagged me with a picture attached. Both contained a bird. My mythically inclined self was unable to keep quiet on the arrival of the second. I not-so-quietly suggested

That’s what he said to me. Or, more precisely, “Do you have the patience to be like the nun in the picture? She looks dreamy, like you. Would you take your time like she is? Would you have all the time in the world to seduce me?” My relationship with Him has always been complex.

A few days ago, I came across an article which looked at the statistics on the popularity of social networking posts. It had a whole load of pretty pie charts to show how the underlying emotional tone

I managed to find a few images which offer various takes on the myth of Rapunzel. Extremely long hair, a central theme of Rapunzel, doesn’t always come with a tower, and there are a couple of examples further down the page. I have no idea if the modifications provide additional insight into the artists who created them,

A fragment of memory… Of seeing this image a few months before. And of how it rattled me from the inside out without fully understanding why. Just the awareness of my stomach being turned and a desire to disembowel myself. Horror. I wanted to turn my head away. And yet I knew it

Tis a grim place to be. And I’ve sat there once or twice myself. Once, not all that long ago. I went to re-read the diary entry that I’d written under the influence of this picture when it first appeared in my life; it was appropriately titled “Fucked Off”. Back then,

Is it a sign? But which one am I? I can imagine that many would assume this is a vision from a nightmare, and yet it’s the captor himself who holds the dreamcatcher in his hand. So, this is not her nightmare. It’s his dream. His stance suggests that he is aware that he may not be alone. He holds his