Nequaquam Morte Moriemini by Bri Duncan ©
Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
I recently discovered the artwork of Brooke Shaden. She is one of those artists that I hate to love…well…hate is WAY too strong. I actually love her work and think we would probably get along swimmingly (she seems awesome from her videos). What I believe is perhaps a more accurate descriptive may involve jealousy. Brooke is young, talented, intelligent and producing some absolutely stunning images that seem to flow effortlessly in some surreal and dream-like ether. The kind of thing I always think I should be capable of producing but never put in the effort or time.
There always seems to be a reason to distract me from the creative process. In the end I believe these to come from a place of fear…fear or failure, fear of discovering myself, fear of financial ruin, on and on. Regardless of the genesis, the culmination is a complete and utter paralysis to actually accomplish anything of merit.
Occasionally I get inspired to get myself down to my basement studio and take a few pictures. Some of Brooke’s work with apples actually inspired Nequaquam Morte Moriemini. After taking this series, I was struck by how much this image, in particular, made me think of The Fall of Man. I read through that section of the first book of the Old Testament and decided to work on a composite.
In the end I think I am actually somewhat pleased with the outcome. I have a long way to go in my personal work, but luckily I produce everything for myself. This allows me to be as creative, different, dark or inept as I find the desire. I hope you all enjoy this piece, and please take the time to take a look over Brooke’s work, it is quite beautiful.