Circe the Phoenix Maker Ed. 1 of 50

Digital, Paper (Requires Framing)

61cm (W) x 81cm (H) x 0.2cm (D)

Certificate of Authenticity Included

Complete Your Piece With A Wood Frame

A$290

Arrives 18–20 Sep

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Artwork Description

In the depths of a forsaken cathedral, I rediscover Circe, the enigmatic sorceress, unshackled from ancient mythos and reborn as a hedonistic fashion icon. Here, amidst a fiery landscape of wildflowers, Circe the Phoenix Maker embraces her newfound power of necromancy, igniting the human spirit into majestic, winged creatures bound to her will in a seductive dance between darkness and light.

In this fiery landscape, she raises spirits from the ashes. Each bound to her will in a dance of light and darkness. This is a dance of life and death, of creation and destruction. And the man suspended in transformation, on the cusp of becoming a phoenix, is a metaphor for this unending cycle. A symbol of the human capacity for reinvention and redemption.

The cathedral stands in stark contrast to Circe's pagan roots. Fusing the sacred and the profane with irony because so much of our monotheistic history is based on pagan mythology. And so, in this cathedral, amidst the decadence and the divine, Circe's metamorphosis can become our own.

Artist Bio

ABOUT ME
Born in Sydney, I spent my childhood surrounded by artists, oddballs and academics. They taught me to question everything. Respectfully and without fear.

Twenty-two countries and four continents later, I can find home anywhere with WiFi and a hearty chunk of intrigue. It's because of them, and I'm forever grateful.

ABOUT MY ART
It's All Just A Little Bit Of History Remixing...

We imagine history into existence every day. Shaping the world around us as we go. And I remake histories with every piece. From a motley crew of tales tall and true. A melange of myths, signs and symbols. Every one ripe for my kitsch confections, which could all be legends one day...

Every piece I create is true. Sourced from truth and grounded by it. But never real. Reality's a fiction we're all subscribed to, which doesn't make it any less true. And that's the thing about the truth. Or the past. It moves in both directions. Myriad, in fact. Never sitting still or doing as it's told. Forever questioned, dissected, reframed and upended. Queered and inverted. Packaged and performed. Told, retold, adapted then sold. Evolving like everything else. Which is why I like to think my art exists outside of time. Reaching for infinity instead of reality. A kaleidoscope of mish-mashed truths that are only ever as surreal as we choose to make them...

Toby Leon

Commissions

Toby's studio is in Sydney, NSW