Author: Anthony Nowacki

My modern paradox is that we can see how bad the global situation is, yet we can only watch. We want to do good, but feel that we cannot, while despicable acts are freely broadcast around the world. My opposing elements within the drawing would be the angel and devil. The angel, a symbol of good, is also a symbol of action and motivation. Here, the angel sits inactive, immobilized by indecision as the world crumbles around it. The devil, the embodiment of evil, is know to sneak around and deceive. Here, the devil smiles from above, jumping through the TV screen to unabashedly spread evil in broad daylight.

I was not aware of the existence of radiolarians, nor of the fact that protists can produce such intricate skeletal structures. When first seeing the film, they reminded me of the patterns of snowflakes. Both are tiny , beautiful things that were hidden from humans until we decided to take a closer look. What caught my attention the most from Heckl’s life was the claim he took Darwin’s evolution theory as a “challenge”. I loved hearing that the work of one revolutionary scientist inspired other great ones to go against the grain and reframe the human perception of life. The distinction between scientist and artist has always been arbitrary to me, as I know many people (including myself) who exist as part of both worlds, so seeing it blurred in the film was very satisfying. The claim that evolution leads “inexorably upward” is an interesting, but not technically correct claim by Heckl. Evolution isn’t about “progress”, but adapting to your environment and making sure you and your offspring survive. Modern day scientists would critique the mentioned claim, as the driving mechanisms of evolution work to make a species better fit for its current conditions, not simply “better” than it was before.

“Salome with the head of Saint John the Baptist” by Andrea Solario

Master Crane Wallpaper

My painting of choice is “Salome with the head of Saint John the Baptist”, by Italian painter Andrea Solario. It is an oil-on-wood painting, which the author created around 1507 in the Cardinal Georges d’Amroise castle in Milan. This high-renaissance painting depicts a scene from the biblical story of Salome, where the titular character receives the severed head of St. John the Baptist, which she got as a gift from her step father.

The image depicts a woman, the biblical princess Salome, holding a silver plate. The woman has fair, clear skin, is dressed in royal attire and adorned with many jewels and gold trinkets. The plate she is holding up rests under the severed, still bleeding head of an unruly looking man, who we know from the title is St. John the Baptist. The head’s skin has turned a sickly yellow color, and it is being held up by a disembodied hand, possibly that of the executioner. 

This painting is a depiction of martyrdom of the innocent and holy, as well as a critique of selfish desires, personified by Salome.

A strong theme within this piece is the severity of Salome’s fault in the death of St. John. It shows how greatly the whims of powerful people can impact the lives of the oppressed. Interestingly, the painting presents Salome as the only one to blame for the saint’s death – not the king who ordered his death, not the executioner who severed his neck, but the young girl, whose petty caprice led to the killing of an innocent man. She is the only one in focus, with the executioner only being present through a hand alone, making Salome seem as the main one at fault. Her soft expression, almost content at what she is witnessing, solidifies her as a detached and unsympathetic person. 

In my remake, I want to emphasize the harmful impacts of vanity and pettiness. I want to maintain the aspect of fault and causality in this painting, by placing myself as both Salome and St.John. Staging myself as both its perpetrator and victim, I want to emphasize how normalized vanity and preying upon insecurity is within the queer community, harming both those affected and those who indulge in it. I do want to include themes of performing femininity as part of the self-sabotage, as it is something relevant to me as a queer person. This can be done by swapping the rich period wear of Salome for modern feminine clothing. 

I found a pattern titled “Master Crane”, on the home wallpaper site “Lust Home”. I love the floral motifs within it for the aesthetics, but my main motivation for this choice is the inclusion of birds as an element of the pattern. Cranes specifically connote beauty and grace, which will work very well with the “performance of femininity” aspect of my drawing. They are also migratory birds, which adds a layer of extra complexity to the piece, giving a nod to my experience as an international student.

My topic would be genetic engineering to revive extinct species, inspired by the recent development of wooly mice. While fascinating from a scientific perspective, I feel the fanfare around this achievement shows a human tendency to distract ourselves with the future to stop thinking about the issues of today. 

The characters in this picture are the wooly mouse and the mummified wooly mammoth (based Lyuba, an actual specimen). The former represents the excitement of scientific achievement, but also humanity’s fascination with futurism and its use as escapism from the present. Engineering new, intriguing species, but neglecting the countless animals in need of conservation and support. The latter represents the grim reality of decay and extinction, representing both species lost to time and those on the verge of extinction. The corpse of Lyuba stands as a stark reminder, that if humanity does not start caring about the present, it will repeat the mistakes of its past and destroy any biodiversity our planet has left,

My stance on this view is subjective, as I believe one cannot ignore the past and present in their pursuit of the future. Progress is good, but our current reality cannot be forfeited to achieve it. 

The emotional core of this drawing is the contrast between the palatable, pleasant visage of the mouse (the appetizing idea of futuristic progress) contrasted with the shriveled, grim reality of decay and extinction evoked by the mummified mammoth. 

For this assignment I’ve chosen to retell the Brothers Grimm story of the Dog and the Sparrow. It follows the titular bird, who befriends an abused dog. He brings him food and keeps watch when he sleeps. Tragedy strikes when the dog gets run over by a carriage, despite the sparrows’ attempts to stop it. The bird then takes his anger out on the carter, tricking him into killing his horses and destroying his carriage and load. He makes every bird nearby ravage his house for seeds, and he lets him destroy all his belongings in a blind rage. The climactic turning point happens when the man captures the sparrow and decides to swallow him. The sparrow resists and breaks loose, taunting him through his teeth. The carter’s wife, in a last ditch attempt, takes a swipe at the bird with a meat hook. She kills her husband on the spot, and the sparrow flies away. 

In my retelling however, I want to focus more on the sparrow itself. The story cuts off after the man dies, but for the bird to wreak such havoc in his grief, I’m sure that when the man fell down lifeless he still did not feel satisfied. I want to omit the dog at all from my diorama to highlight that all the destruction and pain the sparrow has caused, including the death and misery of innocents (horses or the carter’s wife), did nothing to replace the bird’s beloved friend. I want the sparrow to be highlighted among the violence he has enacted, showing that in his pursuit of retribution, he embodied tenfold the qualities of the dog’s killer. He flew away, defiled and unsatisfied, now forced to grieve without an enemy to distract from his loss.