Almost Boxed In

Short Thoughts

2 Mar

Written By Quinn

Kathy Grieb Kennedy - Life’s pretty good, and why wouldn’t it be? I’m a pirate, after all. - Johnny Depp

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 for me, and the image above was one of them. So I’m in the throes of whatever, and I spy a pirate pic with the best caption ever. The concept and the title were appropriate for my mood, which was pissed off, dark, brooding, and ever-so-slightly-dejected. I found it to be funny, and I felt lighter.

I say it was appropriate because it resonated on the inside and caught me off-guard. It swept me to a far more comfortable place than I was in. So a random picture managed to shift my mood within seconds. Without it, I reckon I’d have struggled to pull myself right to write in anything less than a few hours. That alone made it worthy of a closer look, hence this post. So the headphones go in, and I start by thinking about the most obvious personal symbol, the pirate. Traditionally speaking, they’re opportunistic in nature and known to be lawless. Yet, they have their own codes of honour that you must obey, or you’ll face death or abandonment. They stole treasure belonging to others and were known to be respectful of common decency. Keeping within the picture’s context, there’s a sense of playing at it; we’re looking at a kid in a costume, not a grown man with a menacing posture. So is there a sense of someone who still has some growing to do? Role-playing? Game playing?

The confines of the room are descriptive. The open water is behind the boat, with walls to either side. If you look at the front of the picture space, there’s a black and white chequered floor. That boat has found land. There’s a message here saying that one must go backwards to be on the open sea. From a symbolic standpoint, the positioning of the boat and the walls say there’s not much choice regarding direction. It’s a case of forward or backward. As for the parrot companion, does this imply the repetition of words? Parrots will only communicate what has been taught by rote, so perhaps we have an indication of poor communication because of a limited vocabulary. I read plenty whilst researching the behaviour of parrots but became distracted at the mention of a parrot sometimes being displayed above the right-hand side of Guan Yin with either a pearl or prayer bead in its beak.

When associated with Guan Yin, the parrot symbolises filial piety: the duty of respect and obedience to one’s parents and ancestors. This could link with the association to what we learn as children by rote. I remember Guan Yin well from my days of woo as the Goddess of Mercy because she was my favourite Goddess. I wonder if the hidden message, for me at least, is one of a reminder to the self to show compassion to the ordinary mortal failings of humankind, especially those handed down through the family. There’s an overall sense here that growth needs to occur, but for now, the only practical option is to step off the boat, choose a move, and walk forward.

You can see all of Kathy Grieb Kennedy’s work here @ room 17