About The Omicrons

Eldonrek


     The Omicrons are a series of invented figures that evolved out of an earlier phase of figure experimentation. "Omicron", the fifteenth letter of the Greek alphabet, indicates that I did fourteen other series (alpha, beta, gamma, etc.) before I got to these.

     The Omicrons are massive, compared to my wispier figures. They have a primitive quality about them, distinctive chunky musculature, a mask-like head, usually undeveloped extremities, and an ellipse (or ellipses) around the waist or somewhere in the vicinity.

     The Omicrons are a sort of affirmation of the human figure. The body of strength. The body of balance. The body of movement and harmony. The body of wonder and exploration. The body positive. These, as near as I can tell, are motivations behind The Omicron Series.

     The human body, in my view, is the primary substance of our reality, continually pulled between opposite extremes, yet capable of defining itself in a heroic way, overcoming obstacles, dancing with the forces of the universe, sometimes centered, sometimes off-centered, always in motion.



     Each Omicron captures a basic sensation, a universal quality of experience:


Omicron Contraction No. 2--- being on an edge without falling, coping successfully with the turns, containments and ledges that we face.


Omicron Suspension--- being caught between falling a flying, not quite grounded, not quite off the ground, in a positionof momentary floating, . . . pleasant, elevating, illuminating.


Omicron Horizon--- looking beyond the present towards more distant vistas of the imagination.


Omicron Orbit--- dreaming of flight and leaping to new heights.


Omicron Outlander--- encountering forms which (although ancient or alien) are similar to us.


Omicron Contraction No. 1---being small compared to the size and power of nature, yet strong and somehow in tune with it all.


Omicron Chakra--- sensing, in the stillness of meditation, the greater scheme in which we are never completely at rest.


Omicron Spirit--- summoning patriotic vision in challenging times, rising above and beyond disasters to forge greater stability.



     What people actually see when they look at these figures doesn't necessarily agree with my disposition in making them. One person saw anger in Omicron Suspension. In that exact same figure, another person saw an adventurer, while finding Omicron Contraction No. 2 a little disturbing. I find Omicron Contraction No. 2 Herculean in an odd way, strikingly massive, masculine, almost super-heroic comic-book-style in a maze-like dimension that cannot defeat him. A friend thought Omicron Outlander was whimsical. A graphic designer placed Omicron Horizon in a different era. A student was totally captivated by the color of Omicron Chakra. Each person will see some of their own reflection in the undefined faces of these figures.


More About The Omicrons

     An obvious feature of the Omicrons is: no development of hands or feet or facial details. There is a reason for this (besides the obvious reason that these features are harder to draw). If my focus had been on faces and hands and feet, then I would have figured them out. But my focus was so vastly removed from these details that (usually) I left them out altogether. My focus was on the body--- the five prongs consisting of neck column, two arms and two legs ---and the gestures that these larger prongs convey (i.e., body language).

     The body sends a message, the body conveys a disposition, the body is the larger mass of expression. Hands are mere extensions of the greater body's relationship to the world. The face is a mere reflection of the greater body's feelings, attitudes, postures, etc. The whole body is a mystery whose extremities (face, hands, feet) reveal only the smallest truths. Also, the whole body does not end at the hands and feet--- it weaves into space and time, and it leaves its effects (its vibration, its impact) where its mass can no longer be seen. This approach realizes figures with a certain crudeness and naivety, but I hope also with some interest, charm or curiosity.

     As for the backgrounds behind the figures, these are the most difficult areas for me to explain (if I have to). I believe that the backgrounds reflect something of the gesture of the occupying figure. For example, Omicron Orbit shows an airborn gesture, a leap, an extreme vertical lift, so I locate the figure as high in the air as possible--- in the clouds against a sky where nothing earthbound shows. Omicron Contraction (both No. 1 and No. 2) shows a more contracted gesture (more flexed). The word "contraction" can be interpreted in two ways: (1)as being made small in comparison to an abstract landscape, or (2) as being made confined by ledges and walls of abstract architecture. This was not done as intentionally as my words suggest, but I believe it happened unconsciously as a consequence of each particular gesture I was focused on. I can only guess at how I got to where I did.






BODY FORMS                              OMICRON  IMAGES