Us & Us - Eifion Sven-Myer's Portfolio

This was the work I selected for my Postgraduate Degree show at The Glasgow School of Art

Us & Us

This body of work is a representation of the disparity we often place between humanity with the natural world, and the resulting contradiction this mentality generates. I have personified this dual state of thought by using the traffic figures from the pedestrian crossing -as characterising the structured, imposed, urban element of our species- with the mythological green figure. A model of which has existed in some form or another since and most likely before the advent of the agricultural revolution. Portrayals encompass any deity linked to fertility, rebirth and nature, a few examples include; Osiris from ancient Egypt, Bacchus from Greek mythology, Al-Khidr from the Islamic world, as well as a multitude of carved foliate heads found in pre-reformation churches across Europe.

The work is not so concerned by the specific manifestations in mythology as in the fact that the need to epitomise an idea of the wild seems to be ubiquitous. Suggesting a deep acknowledgement in our psyche that we are a part of the natural world rather than detached from it. The engravings on wood hark to traditionalism in art medium yet these raster engravings from hand drawn works have been burnt into the natural material with a machine. Images are displayed of how forces such as fire occur naturally as well as through human activity, not to downplay our destructive force, only to highlight our part of the larger scene, that our time will only be a short blip in the history of our planet let alone the universe.

The humorous characters interact with each other, a visual impression of our minds at war with themselves, as the environment deteriorates. The green myth figure embodies the compassion that exists in our species, an often overlooked yet undeniably present element of our psychological make-up. This, opposing the driving force of the traffic figures, the red portraying our psychopathic tendencies, the green our most common aptitude for obliviousness and unintentional damage through our combined day-to-day activities.

Cut (2019), Laser Cut Plywood, 58 x 40 cm.

Green Traffic Figure Laser Engraves Road Across the Chaotic Swirl (2019), Acrylic & Laser Engraving on Wood, 61 x 61 cm.

Green Myth Figure Burns Lightning Line of Chaos into Wood (2019), Laser Engraving & Paint on Wood, 20 x 25 cm.

Green Myth Figure Burns with Lightning the Chaotic Swirl (2019), Acrylic & Laser Engraving on Wood, 61 x 61 cm.

Red Traffic Figure Dressed as Mr Monopoly Preaching Lies About The Green Myth Figure, Green Traffic Figure is on his Phone Bored, Sitting on a Melting Ice Cap (2019), Acrylic & Laser Engraving on Wood, 61 x 61 cm.

The Earth Being Engulfed by the Sun in 7.5 Billion Years, Traffic Figures Have Built Ring Road Around the Planet (2019) Acrylic and Laser Engraving on Wood 61 x 61 cm

Volcanic Eruption, Green Myth Figure Encourages Seedling, Lava Dripping (2019) Acrylic and Laser Engraving on Wood, 61 x 61 cm

WAIT (2019), Acrylic and Pastel on Wood, 86 x 85 cm.

Zig-Zag Passers By, Green Myth Underlying Moment of Chaos (2019), Oil on Wood, 122 x 70 cm.

Red Traffic Figure Crucified, Foliage Emerges, Green Traffic Figure is Reborn in his Stead, Round Up in Hand (2019), Mixed Media on Wood, 122 x 70 cm.

Traffic Figure Overcome with the Reality of Myth (2019), Oil on Wood, 45 x 73 cm.

Foliate Head [After Medieval Carvings of The Green Man] (2019), Oil on Wood, 29 x 29 cm.

Venus of WiIlendorf Questions the Traffic Figures Gender Identities (2019), Mixed Media on Wood, 86 x 85 cm.

Green Traffic Figure Unable to Progress (2019), Ink on Paper, 21 x 30 cm.

The Traffic Figures School the Various Manifestations of the Green Myth [Jack in the Green, Robin Hood, Al-Khidr, Bacchus, Medieval Foliate Head sculptures & Osiris] (2019), Ink & Graphite on Paper, 30 x 42 cm.

Dionysus wants more Buckfast (2019), Ink & Graphite on Paper, 30 x 21 cm.

Bacchus’s Grapes Mutate to Neon Traffic Lights (2019), Ink & Graphite on Paper, 21 x 30 cm.

Traffic Figures Have Rolled White Paint over Green Figure Deity (2019), Acrylic on Paper, 30 x 42 cm.

Potted Plant Sprouts from Green Traffic Figure’s Ear (2019), Ink & Acrylic on Paper, 30 x 42 cm.

Potted Plant Sprouts from LED Green Traffic Light (2019), Acrylic on Paper, 30 x 42 cm.

Traffic Figures have Built Traffic Lights, Roads & Pedestrian Crossings onto a Pair of Green Myth Figure’s Discarded Crumpled Underpants [No. 2] (2019), Ink & Acrylic on Paper, 21 x 30 cm.

Traffic Figures have Built Traffic Lights, Roads & Pedestrian Crossings onto a Pair of Green Myth Figure’s Discarded Crumpled Underpants [No. 1] (2019), Ink & Acrylic on Paper, 21 x 30 cm.