‘Red White n Bluebeard’ – an Icon of Tyranny

Red White n Bluebeard (acrylic mediums and oil pastel on wood)      SOLD

Red White n Bluebeard is a painting  created during the first presidential campaign of Teflon Don of the Wild Rumpus. It is based on the folk story of Bluebeard, a cautionary tale for wives who dare to disobey their husbands, from the days when women were considered little more than property. Sadly, this is still the case in many countries, daughters are basically sold off to the highest bidder. Imagine the fear, not knowing what awaits, whether your new husband, often a complete stranger, will be kind or a demon. (It’s how new pets feel, too).

detail

Bluebeard is a magician of sorts, he gives his new bride a set of keys, upon leaving for a voyage, telling her open any door except one. Of course curiosity gets the better of her, and she discovers hanging in the forbidden room are the bloody corpses of his 6 previous wives. And the enchanted key is now permanently bloodstained. Innocence forever lost, forbidden knowledge akin to death. Fortunately her brothers end up arriving just in the nick of time to kill Bluebeard before he can make her number 7.

Red White n Bluebeard (different light/with frame)                                          SOLD

Acrylic mediums and oil pastel on wood, set in an authentic, hand cut, antique folk wooden frame all the way from 1930s Poland. SIZE: about 15 x 20 inches.

With frame, colours in natural lighting…

The painting is not a portrait of the (soon to once again be) president, but rather a personification or allegory of the rage and racism that had begun rearing it’s ugly head in the US – permissible and encouraged – during his rise to power. The figure wears a mask that has become melded with his face. He both hates and fears the screaming people caught in his red white n blue beard. Inspiration was drawn from the contorted victims in Picasso’s Guernica, to illustrate those without rights or power, caught in the hairy flames and begging for mercy.

detail

Recently, Rumpus has made ‘jokes’ about Canada entering into an arranged marriage, shall we say, with the US, which I won’t repeat here. Many have noted his characteristic, tactical trolling, bullying, belittling. But it is also a form of hexing. Rumps is a magician skilled in word sorcery (Gemini Sun/Uranus). He well understands that all that is required is for a thorny little seed or egg to be planted in the collective mind, hypnotically repeated as a command to the subconscious, and it will grow there like a parasite until it bears ugly fruit. Rather like that frienemy who casually insinuates your spouse might be cheating. (How interesting his new health minister literally had a brain worm). This is how subliminal advertising has always worked, and he is a walking advertisement, set to (once again) head TV Nation. Don’t buy it, Canada. You know what’s behind that door.

All content except BEK cartoon is ©copyright Roxanna Bikadoroff and may not be reused without my permission. Please share via LINK or if using a pull quote, please credit and link. Thank you.

ART FOR SALE – Three Original Illustrations

Am going to try and stay on top of things and post original artworks for sale, regularly.  But also try and keep them current, at least topic-wise.

In lieu of latest news, here are a few of my personal favourites, which I’ve decided to part with. They deserve to be framed and seen, not just stored!
Also, the stars are saying now is a great time to invest in artworks, which never depreciate in value. Win-win for all!

My scanner needs replacing thanks to obsolescence, so the ‘actual’ art pics were taking with point n shoot, so they might look a little dark. The paper I use is is bright, warm white.

Please click on first images of each piece for details.
Use contact form for inquires.  
Thank you!

‘It is I Who Styles Donald Trump’, The Walrus Magazine, 2017

This piece was  for a fictional work by Lynn Crosbie, which described in wondrous detail the styling of the hair ritual of you-know-who, from the point-of-view of the First Lady. Melania and her Mel-lamia assistants concocting the (ex)President.

It is I Who Styles    actual piece

 

Do Tell, Rethinking Schools Magazine

I forget the exact topic of this piece for Rethinking Schools, but it had to do with openness about discussing gender/sexual identity in school. Uncle Sam is transformed into the Blue Angel, and at least one student gets it.

Do Tell    actual piece

 

Phoenix Rising, National Post 2003

This piece was for a story about  leaving an abusive marriage, if I recall. A phoenix rises from the burning bed (who remembers that Farrah Fawcett TV movie?). But the illustration can stand alone as symbolic of waking from complacency or transformation in general.

Phoenix Rising    actual piece

 

Feel free to share the LINK to this post, only. All written content and images are copyright ©Roxanna Bikadoroff and may not be reused without my consent. Thank you for understanding.

Interview in the Journal of Wild Culture

“During the flush years of the magazine industry in the 1990s, before it began to downsize, Roxanna Bikadoroff was one of the most sought after illustrators in the business. These days her restless imagination takes her work in some new directions — from hard-edged visual messages with maximum impact to soft detailed fabric and bead sculpture drawing on traditional women’s crafts and female mythology. In an interview with Whitney Smith, the artist talks about her background, what motivates her, and her artistic process with nine of her pieces…”

You can read the whole interview here.