Peony and Skulls on china bowl
Info about the medium: This is a manipulated illustration of mine which I photoshopped onto a china bowl, in time i will be adding a full set in the hopes of building a good projection of what a contemporary china set of bowls and tea cups and pots will look like if taken to production! If you wish to collaborate get in contact!
Subject matter: Peonies are a recurring tool within chinese art dating back thousands of years, used within textiles, architectural reliefs and paintings. Skulls within art are symbolic of death, and it is within the combined image of a blooming flower that I wanted to create an object that was both beautiful and grotesque, about being born and also of the dead. What looks like ectoplasm pouring forth from the eye sockets an 'in-between' situation alluding to ghosts and the spirit, that which is dead but is active within the world of the living.
Designs and patterns normally found on chinese ornaments depict glamour and riches; the material. With my design I wanted to simply capture that which suggests at the beautiful and also the grotesque, and a loose allusion to the duality of life.
