RARA AVIS

Photos by Richard T. Bryant

Sirens, mythological beings, half female, half bird bodies. From the deep sea of our Collective Unconscious, knowledge of their existence spread as far as Intihuatana, pre Inca Empire times.

“Myth opens the world to the dimension of mystery.”

The Siren emerges in ancient times, symbolizing a connection between Earth and the Heavens. Their wings enable them to carry the dead to the Underworld, the realm where the secret of life and creation are to be found. The Siren seduces us to find the Divine infinity within ourselves. In order to transform and elevate yourself spiritually, your animal side is sacrificed.

Their music calls us back to the Divine mystery that holds us all and everything. The music of the spheres shines resplendent right in front of our eyes, everywhere, so simple in its magnificence and so full of complex infinite layers.

Her body becomes the wave of creation itself, the feminine and creative power that gives birth to tsunamis as well as life itself.

The Siren mourns the loss of our wings, oblivious for what is transient, mundane. Love for what is Divine, eternal.

 

“RARA AVIS”

Where are you headed, young siren?
Where from?
Going to play with the waves
full of dancing seaweed.

It’s time,
let them go.
Return,
rock those restless souls
of Summers past.

Life has plenty of
unrequited love.
Watch, or
you will transform
into stone.

Symbols of yours studied,
well-read and analyzed by
crowds of wandering mortals.
Don’t they know we are
only sea relics.

Sunflower sea stars
will accompany you,
mourning siren.
Peeling feather layers,
fly again.
Captivating audiences
of faraway worlds.

“RARA AVIS”
(Pájaro Extraño)

Hacia dónde vás sirenita?
De dónde vienes?
Voy a jugar con los olas,
traviesas algas marinas.

Ya es hora,
déjalas ir.
Vuelvan a mecer
esas almas inquietas,
de Veranos pasados.

La vida está llena
de amores sin corresponder.
Te transformarás en piedra .

Tus simbolos serán estudiados y

analizados por la
muchedumbre de seres ambulantes,
no saben que solo somos
despojos de la mar.

Las estrellas marinas
te acompañarán
hasta cuando deshagas tus
emplumadas vestiduras.
Nuevamente volarás

sirena
cautivando audiencias
de mundos lejanos.

PIA
March 13, 2018

The process of creating RARA AVIS

 

Greek Siren (about 330 BC)
Marble
National Archeological Museum of Athens

This aged marble sculpture gave me the spark of inspiration to start walking into unchartered territory. I had the desire to create a figure of a siren out of wax or modeling clay instead of carving out of stone.

Seeing the female figure without her arms, just wings on her back, personally provided many answers ... the creative feminine energy symbolized by the infinity # 8 horizontal format ... the navel point on her body, the eternal NOW that unites us all.

The mystery of our lives, what makes us human … Nobody comes into life except by woman, so far as our limits of common knowledge.

The siren’s mournful expression communicates the loss of our own wings, symbols of the spiritual side that remains hidden.

 

The wax figure begins to take form …

The flat block of casting wax has to be warmed and softened by a heat lamp in order to work with it. I improvised an armature attached to the heavy iron base … a piece I found on a hike …

 

I also tried softening the dense wax inside an electric crockpot … breaking pieces first from the big wax block.

Most sculptors use modeling clay to build up their figures before taking them to a foundry to be cast in bronze.

I was just experimenting with wax since I had that available at the moment.

 

The siren figure keeps growing and begins to ask for legs.

A siren has a bird half-body with claws ... symbolizing one of the siren’s attributes, to power to grasp and tear bodies, a necessary step for our own human transformation ... realizing the imprisoned soul of their garment.

 

Building up the siren’s legs demanded a true wire armature attached to metal poles and bolted onto a wooden base.

More work continues to soften her face features.

The legs have to be thickened plus a lot more rows of the wax feather effect for an overall texture.

 

Her figure keeps growing and transforming ... body starts to slightly curve backwards … the hair continues to expand and has more movement.

 

I realize now that the area between her neck and chest needs 2” more mass, approximately ... better to fix it now than later … plus, I have to refine her legs and feathers too.

 

The wave of the feminine creative forces pulls at her torso and the siren is finally accomplishing her mission of being …liberating her voice of mourning our losses … restoring our connection to what is Divine.

Here is the wax figure before having a mother mold taken. Afterwards, the casting process begins …

 

The bronze cast of the siren is being “chased”… Mike Masse cleans the joints of the several pieces soldered together.

A complex part of the process better left for an expert like Mike at Mike Masse Sculpture Services in Santa Fe, NM … a master in bronze patinas.

 

RARA AVIS after being cleaned, a time consuming process, ready for “patina”. Because of the final effect I envisioned, the piece needed to be buried in soil overnight. Certain chemicals require unusual solutions to achieve a unique result.

Afterwards, light coats of a protective wax assures that the patina won’t keep on changing colors.

Their presence is a foreshadow of major change to come.

The Siren profess a Love for the mystery that which is Divine.

My mission as an Artist is to uncover what is hidden, with a clear vision. The Siren’s image needed to be brought to light, demanding change from a negative, narrow, superficial understanding of their role in mythology. From the darkness comes the brightest light.

Their true voice awaken and warn us, the time is NOW to reconnect to what makes us human, alive, the spark of the Divine in us all. You hold the keys to the temple within.