Someone recently asked me: "What do Cyclops represent, for you?" They do keep cropping up in my artwork now and again, and lately with some frequency.
The question motivated me to do a bit of research.
Like most of us, my initial exposure to Cyclops was in childhood. I owned a book filled with stories about giants. Although I can't recall any details, there must have been a special tale about Cyclops.
The cover of the book was plain, medium blue in colour, without a jacket or pictures. Only words, beautiful words. Imaginary creatures took on monumental dimensions in my mind.
One day my book disappeared. I hunted high and low throughout the mess that was my room but it was nowhere to be found. I later surmised that my mom probably threw it out when she thought I'd outgrown it. Sad because artists rarely outgrow giants.
As a young teen, I found a book at the city library called The Third Eye by Lobsang Rampa (formerly known as Cyril Henry Hoskin). According to Wikipedia, it came out in 1956. The novel (autobiography?) had an impact on my malleable mind by suggesting (promoting?) new ways of looking at life. Imaginative fiction disguised as reality, it was intriguing for a small town girl. The author wrote about Tibet and Buddhism. Surprisingly, British-born Rampa ended up living and dying in Canada.
In my 2012 blog post Cyclopean Eyes, I mentioned that my Cyclops rarely have one eye located mid-forehead but recently things have changed. In the interpretation below, a single eye occupies an entire third of the face.
Deep thoughts about Cyclops (kinda rhymes):
MONSTERS - Human beings turn into monsters for many reasons: too much plastic surgery, bulimia, booze and drugs, overeating, stress; the list could go on ad infinitum. Other folks are just really nasty inside. I for one, become a grumpy and achingly sluggish monster when I have to wake up in the wee hours of the morning. My feet drag like those of waiters in Montreal's Chinatown restaurants. My eyes fuse and become a single slit.
GIANTS - Traditionally, Cyclops are gargantuan. Mine are average-sized Joes who possess only one eye. I do play with scale though. Maximizing and minimizing elements or characters increases emotional impact.
FOCUS - Continuous bombardment from the media, advertising, telemarketers along with societal pressure to overachieve makes it difficult to concentrate on what's really important in life. One eye improves focus and enables filtering.
IDIOMS, EXPRESSIONS, SAYINGS - If I look up the word "eye" in an idiom or expression dictionary, I'll be "up to my eyeball" in possibilities and busy for at least a year.
INCONGRUITY - The Online Cambridge Dictionary defines incongruity as 'unusual or different from what is around or from what is generally happening'. Let's face it. One eye stands out from the pack.
Cyclops are unique. Mythology is merely a point of departure.
The cover of the book was plain, medium blue in colour, without a jacket or pictures. Only words, beautiful words. Imaginary creatures took on monumental dimensions in my mind.
One day my book disappeared. I hunted high and low throughout the mess that was my room but it was nowhere to be found. I later surmised that my mom probably threw it out when she thought I'd outgrown it. Sad because artists rarely outgrow giants.
As a young teen, I found a book at the city library called The Third Eye by Lobsang Rampa (formerly known as Cyril Henry Hoskin). According to Wikipedia, it came out in 1956. The novel (autobiography?) had an impact on my malleable mind by suggesting (promoting?) new ways of looking at life. Imaginative fiction disguised as reality, it was intriguing for a small town girl. The author wrote about Tibet and Buddhism. Surprisingly, British-born Rampa ended up living and dying in Canada.
In my 2012 blog post Cyclopean Eyes, I mentioned that my Cyclops rarely have one eye located mid-forehead but recently things have changed. In the interpretation below, a single eye occupies an entire third of the face.
Deep thoughts about Cyclops (kinda rhymes):
MONSTERS - Human beings turn into monsters for many reasons: too much plastic surgery, bulimia, booze and drugs, overeating, stress; the list could go on ad infinitum. Other folks are just really nasty inside. I for one, become a grumpy and achingly sluggish monster when I have to wake up in the wee hours of the morning. My feet drag like those of waiters in Montreal's Chinatown restaurants. My eyes fuse and become a single slit.
GIANTS - Traditionally, Cyclops are gargantuan. Mine are average-sized Joes who possess only one eye. I do play with scale though. Maximizing and minimizing elements or characters increases emotional impact.
FOCUS - Continuous bombardment from the media, advertising, telemarketers along with societal pressure to overachieve makes it difficult to concentrate on what's really important in life. One eye improves focus and enables filtering.
IDIOMS, EXPRESSIONS, SAYINGS - If I look up the word "eye" in an idiom or expression dictionary, I'll be "up to my eyeball" in possibilities and busy for at least a year.
INCONGRUITY - The Online Cambridge Dictionary defines incongruity as 'unusual or different from what is around or from what is generally happening'. Let's face it. One eye stands out from the pack.
Cyclops are unique. Mythology is merely a point of departure.
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