IMELDA ALMQVIST ART: JOURNEYS TO OTHER WORLDS, INNER WORLDS AND AROUND THE WORLD IN PAINTINGS!
Bird Gods, Humans Wearing Bird Masks, Winged Beings, Heavenly Creatures, Garuda, Isis, Owls, Mabinogi, Rhiannon, Valkyries, Valhalla, Tir na N'Og: The Land of Youth, Apples of Immortality, Celtic Festivals, Dragons, Phoenix, Griffin, World Tree, Twins, Horses, Odin, Sleipnir, Spirit Dog
Mythology Portfolio
Summaries
For a more detailed introduction to World Mythology please use this link!
BIRD WORLD
THE CHESS GAME
Half-human half-bird characters made an appearance in my paintings about 10 years ago. I am still not completely sure what they represent. In some paintings they are like gods. See The Chess Game, for instance. They live in a landscape that resembles, yet is not quite, planet earth.
What I do know is that birds have an amazing skill that we human beings don't share: they have wings, they can fly. As a child I had a lot of dreams where I was able to fly by flapping my arms. Waking up was a disappointment! The notion of a human being with wings is a powerful one (think of angels). The image of a human being with a bird's beak is rather scary.
I have since done some research and it is amazing how 'winged creatures that are no birds' appear in stories and mythology from all over the world. Think of Garuda, the Indian God, half human and half eagle. Isis, the Egyptian mother goddess, is usually depicted with huge sheltering wings, protecting the people of Egypt. Owls often appear as a symbol for the forces of darkness. In Medieval Welsh tales the Mabinogi (birds of otherworld woman Rhiannon) sing to weary heroes to lull them to sleep. In Norse mythology the Valkyries were demons of death who soared over the battlefied like birds of prey. Chosen heroes were carried away to Valhalla.
Bird Mythology is found all over the world!
To see other paintings in the same series and read detailed background information, please click on BIRD WORLD SERIES!
CELTIC SERIES
RHIANNON
The Celts were warrior people and skilled metal-workers. By the 6th century BC they occupied much of western Europe. They worshipped a large pantheon of gods and goddesses. Some ancient Celtic deities took the form of animals. The Mother Goddess was of central importance.In Celtic myths there were many instances of transformation: human beings changing into animals and back again. They believed in an Otherworld called Tir na n-Og: the Land of Youth. Life there consisted of feasting and hunting. There was no pain or sickness. No one grew old. There were magic cauldrons that dispensed a never-ending supply of food and drink. There were magic trees that produced an endless supply of apples that granted immortality. Nature was sacred to the Celts. They rarely enclosed their places of worship. They preferred to use nature's own boundaries, such as trees or streams to create sacred spaces. The Celts observed four great seasonal festivals in the course of a year: Summer began at Beltaine ('Great Fire'), winter at Samhain. Lughnasa was the harvest festival and Imbolg ('Sheep's Milk') marked the beginning of Spring. At these magical times, the boundaries between the Everyday World and the Otherworld faded and fairy mounds opened. Our Halloween celebrations hark from this: tales of the 'walking dead' and spirits rising from the grave.
To see other paintings in the same series and read detailed background information, please click on Celtic Series!
DRAGONS AND MYTHICAL BEASTS
DRAGON AND VIRGIN
Mythical beasts are creatures born of the imagination. They never existed in reality. They appear in many forms: in sculpture, paintings, on buildings, in tapestries, even in the logos of modern companies (think of a Phoenix or Griffin). They may be composed of the parts of different animals or combine human and animal features (mermaid or centaur). Dragons are probably the most widespread mythical beast. Mythical beasts had an important role as the guardians of borders and crossing-places, most importantly the border between life and death. Modern psychology has made mythical beasts symbols of the unconscious mind.
To see other paintings in the same series and read more detailed background information, please click on Mythical Beasts Series!
SACRED TREES
THE TREE OF LIFE
A 'World Tree' holding up the world appears in mythological tales from all over the world. The most famous one is Yggdrasil, the cosmic ash tree from Norse mythology, where Odin hang himself for nine nights to learn wisdom. In Germanic mythology we find the apples of Idun, granting eternal youth.
Sacred Trees or Spirit Trees are found all over the world, from West Africa to China. My interest in sacred trees started after painting The Tree of Life, which was a common theme in the Medieval Period. Last but not least there is of course the Christmas tree we decorate to celebrate Christs's birth!
To see other paintings in the same series and read more detailed background information, please click on Sacred Trees Series!
TWINS
SYMMETRY
Twins are fascinating, why?
The human world knows identical and non-identical twins. The larger group or so called Archetype Twins includes even more variants, such as The Double, Rivals, Soul Mates and even Scapegoats.
Twins pose a lot of conundrums and contradictions! A case of 'twinning' that is highly controversial today is Cloning.
To see other paintings in the same series in sequence and read detailed background information, please click on Twins Series!
HORSES
RETIRED INDIAN FAIRGROUND HORSES
In the year 2002 my husband gave me two wooden 'retired fairground horses' from India for my birthday. They, and other horses, soon appeared in my paintings!
Horses appear in mythology and stories from all over the world. They even appear in many expressions in our language. Think of phrases like: The Pale Horse (i.e. Death, one of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse), White Horse (white-capped breakers in the sea) or the Wooden Horse of Troy (a decption used by Ulysses).
The Northern God of War, Odin, had an eight-legged horse called Sleipnir. To the Native American people by 1700 the horse was known as 'Spirit Dog' or 'Medicine Dog'.
To see other paintings in the same series and read more detailed background information, please click on Mythological Beasts Series and see the section on Horses!
Imelda Almqvist, 2006
(Last Updated April 2009)
Bird Gods, Humans Wearing Bird Masks, Winged Beings, Heavenly Creatures, Garuda, Isis, Owls, Mabinogi, Rhiannon, Valkyries, Valhalla, Tir na N'Og: The Land of Youth, Apples of Immortality, Celtic Festivals, Dragons, Phoenix, Griffin, World Tree, Twins, Horses, Odin, Sleipnir, Spirit Dog
IMELDA ALMQVIST ART: JOURNEYS TO OTHER WORLDS, INNER WORLDS AND AROUND THE WORLD IN PAINTINGS!
