makara

Feb 22nd 2009

Makara is a beautiful ink drawing, executed in meticulous detail. Shapes and paths weave in and out, leading the eye around and around the composition, which is filled with a plethora of values and textures for continual visual interest. The real satisfaction, though, is in the focal point—the face of the makara, which seems an unholy hybrid of a horse and a tyrannosaurus. Its face is like a skull, with sockets empty save for cobwebs, and attached to beaded chains (so many interlocking loops) which lash out towards the viewer. The skin around the jaws seems to be ripping, splintering, and the flesh elsewhere is mottled with tiny holes, resembling bone marrow and giving an appearance of corrosion. There are also what appear to be bullet holes gaping open. The overall effect is both lavishly elegant and savagely nightmarish, an exercise in Viral Sanctity's own trypophobia—the fear of holes. (They say you have to suffer for your art...) The piece is worth further consideration from the title, as the makara is a creature associated with lust...so perhaps this goes beyond a simple irrational phobia into commentary on deeper anxieties regarding an emptiness in human relationships...?

In either case, the piece is a visual feast, loaded with significance both personal and universal. Great work.