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[senaadjovi]

[senaadjovi]

One of two wished two to be made one

but one half of two asked: 

“which one of us two 

will be the one 

that makes us one?”

one let out a moan in despair

as one grieved that two 

would never be made one.

[senaadjovi]

Intimacy

It’s in the moistness / of your thighs, 

It’s in the subtlety / of your words,

You breathe it / in and out,

Vulnerability /stings and heals.

[senaadjovi]

Burnt

Hidden in the shadows

you never felt as free

as when burnt by the sun,

exposed.

[senaadjovi]

Broken Gently

Despite the anguish in my gut, the lead in my heart

The trembling all over me - shivers of ice

All I can do is love you

[senaadjovi]

Mother

I thank you for making me become what i couldn’t find in you. for making me feel so unworthy.

I guess it was my fault too, if i hadn’t been so soft and fragile and if you hadn’t been all the f world to me. 

But I was just me and you were only you and it was just us for the longest time and you’ve always been so sick inside.

I am left to grieve the mother I’ve never had

[senaadjovi]

sena adjovi

[senaadjovi]

Wooden Toy Trunk / Blue Bathroom Sink

I remember this wooden toy trunk with all my baby sister’s toys inside

It knew the sides of my head multiple times

It felt like my head would crack from the pressure I felt inside

It felt like no words could get out all the pain I felt inside

/

I remember the blue bathroom sink

It knew my forehead all right

Bumps on bumps on bumps

Bursted from me like flowers

[senaadjovi]

My creativity and my need for expression cannot be contained within a single medium anymore. My body is begging to move, my mind is craving expansion

[senaadjovi]

Is it sickness? is it weakness? despair? darkness? could it be love?

[senaadjovi]

I LOVE... Alberto Giacometti

[senaadjovi]

Sena Adjovi.

Exemplary, ethereal portraits by Montreal-based artist Sena Adjovi.

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[senaadjovi]

Odysseus as a Symbol of Home

“So she spoke, and the proud heart in me was persuaded, / and I went back down to my fast ship and the sand of the seashore, / and there I found beside the fast ship my eager companions / pitiful in their lamentation and weeping big tears. / And, as in the country, the calves around the cows returning / from pasture back to the dung of the farmyard, well filled with grazing, / come gambolling together to meet them, and the pens no longer / can hold them in, but lowing incessantly they come running / around their mothers, so these men, once their eyes saw me, / came streaming around me, in tears, and the spirit in them made them / feel as if they were back in their own country, the very / city of rugged Ithaka, where they were born and raised up.” (Odyssey 10.406-17)

The Odyssey by Homer follows the journey of Odysseus’ homecoming. After much hardships and the loss of a lot of men, Odysseus and his companions finally arrive at Circe’s island. A group of men go the house of Circe but get turned into pigs. Odysseus escapes Circe’s traps, persuades her to turn the men back into humans and returns to his ship to meet with the rest of his companions. In this passage (Odyssey 10.406-417), the theme of home is explored through Odysseus’ eyes in an epic simile comparing the way his men come running to him to calves running to their mother. This simile, narrated by Odysseus, compares the men with calves to highlight their deep longing for home and the importance of Odysseus as a representation of their home, though it hints at a more complex relationship between them.

The comparison of the men running to Odysseus with calves running to their mothers makes the reader feel the longing and the importance of home for them. The vocabulary associated with Odysseus’ companions : “pitiful” (10.409), “weeping” (10.409),” lamentation” (10.409) evokes distress and sets a highly emotional tone to the simile. The image of cattle and green pastures contrasts with Circe’s island seashore and evokes their home country. Comparing the men to farm animals also points out the intuitive need of home that they are feeling, as animals are seen as instinctive beings. The importance of home is also highlighted by the use of “their own country” (10.416): the possessive is emphasized three times, country already implying a sense of belonging. Additionally, the mention of  “born and raised up” (10.417) possibly indicates that the men never left their country until the Trojan war and therefore strengthen the importance of home for them.  The mention of the calves running from the pastures to the farmyard is also interesting: even though the calves have been filling themselves with grazing and have had their bodily needs satisfied, they still have a deeper need for their mothers. It hints at Odysseus and his men relentlessly trying to find the way to their home even when they find other generous lands and riches. At Circe’s house, they are treated like princes, eating and drinking to their heart's content. Yet after a year has elapsed they decide to leave, answering the call for home.

The fact that Odysseus narrates the passage shows how identified he is with his country Ithaka. Speaking of his companions, he says that “these […] came streaming around me […] as if they were back to their own country” (10.416). The joy of seeing him is paralleled with the joy of reuniting with their home. This correspondence between Odysseus and Ithaka is apparent when Odysseus presents himself to the Phaiakians: after naming himself, he directly names and describes Ithaka as if his country was equivalent to himself (9.19-28). Odysseus’ narration also informs us about his own view of his men, and adds a layer of complexity to their relationship as established in the text before. Multiple passages of The Odyssey show instances of the men questioning Odysseys’ authority or disobeying him. Just a few lines after this simile, Eurylochos mistrust him, refuses to follow him back to Circe’s house and urges the other men to disobey as well, accusing him of the deaths of his companions in the land of the Cyclops: “it was by this man’s recklessness that these too perished” (10.437). However this simile implies that Odysseus is the mother figure for his men, which shows the affection he must feel for them and for their memory and portrays a much deeper and more tender bond between them.

In conclusion, this passage narrated by Odysseus explores one of the most important and omnipresent theme of The Odyssey : home. It is here explored through the bond between the men and Ithaka and between the men and Odysseus, which in Odysseus’ eye seems to be identical.  Odysseus narrating this story several years after their deaths may tint it with nostalgia and with a hint of guilt for not having been able to fulfill his role of leader and bring his companions back home. We could say that, for Odysseus, believing that he was an equivalent of home for his men during their adventures is the only comfort he has for their deaths.

Works cited: 

Homer. The Odyssey. Translated by Richmond Lattimore. 1967. Perennial-Harper, 1991.

[senaadjovi]

Dessiner, c'est voir

[senaadjovi]

Self-portrait painting - Process

L’histoire de ce portrait commence avec une rencontre. Une âme sensible à l’art dont la personnalité me subjugue. Il traverse les couches de mon être et de mon art. Il me stimule, m’encourage. Et un jour, il me fait savoir sa curiosité sur le processus de la naissance d’une peinture, de la première idée à la réalisation finale. Nous convenons que je lui partagerai chaque étape, et je me lance dans cette peinture.

Je choisis une photo dont l’effet de lumière la couleur vibrante du siège éclairé, le contraste subtil entre les parties du visage dans l ombre et dans la lumière. Je décide de n’exploiter qu’une partie du spectre de valeurs pour obtenir un effet atmosphérique, “moody” et d’essayer d’obtenir une cohérence dans le choix des couleurs. De façon plus global, mon objectif en ce moment est de me détacher le plus en plus des références photographique utilisées. 

Avec ces idées en tête, je fais un petit croquis pour avoir une idée de la composition et des valeurs. J’essaie de planifier où seront mes lumières les plus claires et mes ombres les plus sombres (voir notes).

Je commence par esquisser approximativement le visage, ce que je regretterais un peu par la suite. J ai pris du temps à retrouver les traits justes du visage à la peinture.

Je commence avec le placement des valeurs

Après les deux premières couches de peinture, j’ai une meilleure idée des points à corriger: la lumière à l’arrière plan fait compétition à celle du visage et du fauteuil, la partie illuminé du visage est trop froide.

Après quelques changement, les couleurs me plaisent davantage, mais les proportions du visage sont clairement à modifier, pour un résultat un peu moins “patate”.

J’ai assombri la lumière sur le siège qui attirait trop l’attention par rapport à celle sur le visage. J’ai également diminué la valeur de la lumière en arrière plan. J’ai diminué le contraste ombre lumière de l’habit en éclaircissant l’ombre.

Avoir quelqu’un à qui partager l’évolution de la peinture m’a incroyablement motivé. Je n’aurais peut-être pas dépassé les stades les plus difficile et aurais abandonné la peinture inachevée.  M’être fixé quelques objectifs m’a beaucoup aidée aussi. J’avais une meilleure idée de la direction à prendre lorsque que quelque chose ne fonctionnait pas visuellement. 

[senaadjovi]

A l'aube

Le sommeil me prit tôt, mais repartit tout aussi tôt

A l'aube je me retrouve seule, un goût de sang dans la bouche et des tâches sur mon poignet

Tu m'as appris à faire face a mes émotions, mais que faire face au vide?

Toute la philosophie du monde ne me viendra pas en aide

Savoir ce qu'est ou n 'est pas la mort ne me viendra pas en aide

Tu dis :"je ne vois rien qui meurt"

Mais je ne te verrai plus.

[senaadjovi]