At 22, Icarus Landing Is Taking Off on His Own
Icarus Landing was born at the beginning of the 2nd Millennium, a symbol foreshadowing hope, optimism, love, grace, perception of the marvelous world around us, the god-like power of individual potential, efficacy instead of torture, fearlessness to aim high, and the wisdom that comes about from all of those incredible phenomena.
This week Icarus found his forever home on earth. The painting is going to my dearest friend and the greatest living human I know. I will let that person share or not their ownership.
Frame of References:
The Legend of Icarus
Icarus was a minor character in Greek Mythology, famous for not surviving the transition from boyhood to manhood. He was the son of Daedalus, an accomplished inventor, who produced an ingenious labyrinth on the island of Cnossus for Minos, the king of Crete. Even Daedalus could not find a way out of his maze. Sometime after building it, Daedalus fell into disfavor with the king of Crete and was condemned to live the rest of his life inside the labyrinth. Because he was his father's son, Icarus faced the same fate.
Icarus and his father were trapped. Ever the inventor, Daedalus built wings of feathers and wax to escape. In theory, the wings would allow Daedalus and Icarus to fly above the labyrinth and off the island to freedom. Just before their flight, Daedalus warned his son to be careful. If he flew too low, his wings would get wet in the ocean; if he flew too high, the sun would melt the wax and the wings would disintegrate.
Icarus took off with all intentions of following his father's sage advice. Away they flew, escaping the labyrinth. Like any adolescent boy, Icarus struggled with parental advice. He found flight awkward at first, but learned quickly and soon flew with the attributes of adolescence--his physical strength made up for his lack of coordination and balance. Also, like many adolescents, Icarus moved rapidly from ungainliness to false prowess. Drunk with his newfound power, he soared higher in the sky, ignoring his father's warning. Daedalus looked around in flight and could not find his son. He peered down at the ocean and saw a small cluster of feathers floating on the water. Icarus had soared towards the sun, his wax melted and he fell to his death.
[Note: I got this quote from an online source about psychology, they don't give it attribution, and I could not find the source for the quote. Let me know if you can find the original. https://paulearley.net/articles/addiction-recovery/icarus-phenomenon
Hicks, Stephen and Newberry, Michael. Discussion on Art.
Images of Icarus, https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Icarus&atb=v1-1&iax=images&ia=images
Newberry, Michael. Icarus: How Visual Artists Such as Myself and Bryan Larsen Steal, Borrow, and Originate
Newberry, Michael. Icarus Landing: Incorporating and Transcending Two Major Traditions in Western Civilization