Form meets Function is one of my largest pieces. The 66×28 inch oil on canvas painting is a part of a series I am working on that attempts to bridge hip hop culture with eastern philosophy. The painting was done with bold colors that juxtapose each other, yet essentially work together…. Hence the title of the painting! Form meets Function deals with the idea that everything in nature is formed by a marriage of the two words. Hermetic Philosophy calls this idea the Law of Gender.
The Law of Gender is a tricky idea to understand, particularly because it does not exclusively deal with the sexes. The original idea is much larger in scale!
Once understood, the Law of Gender seems obvious, but at first the idea requires a little explanation – stay with me here. The simple description would be to state that nature takes form based on function, and function is only capable because of form. They are separate but totally dependent upon each other. A good example is color and shape. Think about it, you never see a shape without a color…. Or a color without a shape! Two things that we natural think of as distinct, yet they both need each other to exist. Taoist also deal with this idea within their concept of Yin and Yang. You can only see the color black to the degree that its edges are defined by a gradient of white.
Another angle on the idea from the sex standpoint is that males have exterior sex organs while the female organ is interior. The male element deals with materials, things, and physical utilities – left brain stuff (outie). The female element deals with meaning, purpose, and non-physical feelings – right brain stuff (inny). An example of how this all works can be demonstrated by using something as simple as a pencil. The male aspect is the wooden shape, yellow color, and the eraser. The female aspect is the letter, poem, or drawing created with it! Both sexes contain and balance both elements as human beings. But again, the idea is much deeper than sex and simple gender. A spirit is useless without the body, while the body is meaningless without the spirit. If you can fully open your mind up to this concept you will gradually begin to see how everything is created this way. It is a universal law. I could really go on to explain even more variations of this law but I suppose at some point I should talk about how it applies to my painting.
Form meets Function has a central figure that I originally used an image of lyricists Lil Wayne’s face as the model. It wasn’t until after I added the third eye and the exposed brain structure that I realized nobody would recognize Lil Wayne without his locks. Later on, after a I added more bold colors to the face, it occurred to me that it didn’t look much like him at all.
I approached the painting as if during deep meditation, the central figure realized the Law of Gender and his intrinsic connection to it. He is flanked by two whimsical male and female figures that seem to be aiding with his understanding of this law. Finally, at the point of comprehension of this great teaching, the “Flower of Life” blossoms atop his head and his third eye opens! All of this occurs during the central figure’s meditation. One could assume that the guy is somewhere sitting in the lotus position on a mat in a quiet room alone.
Thanks for reading!
rEN
hit me at – contact@renswork.com
