M. Blair Ligon · Computer Painting · Fine Art Prints · Pietra Dura Series
Napoleon's Arrival
Limited edition of 5
11.25 x 15"w: $387
framed & matted, 17 x 20", black wood: $687
digital mixed media/ 200 year archival print
Often a new beginning is accompanied by loss. Just as harmonies of structure, line and mass exist in the construction of houses, trees and people, the destruction of these also creates a harmonic vibration. They resonate together in their ruin and erosion. December exists for us all as a beautiful but terrifying process where the old makes way for the new.Napoleon's Arrival is built upon the dissolution of patterns and (conversely) the creation of new structure from the repetition of chaotic events. The flow of the composition was influenced by Charles Joseph Minard's illustration of the losses suffered by Napoleon's army in the Russian campaign of 1812, which Edward Tufte calls "Probably the best statistical graphic ever drawn..."Napoleon Robinson and his wife, Gertrude, arrived in my rural community in the 1930's, wanderers of the Great Depression. Gertrude was my nanny. Gertrude died in 2006 at the age of 102. Napoleon passed in 1990, but no one knew how old he was. Napoleon's Arrival is made from my photographs of their house, built by my grandfather, but now falling into disrepair.
All images copyright 2007, M. Blair Ligon,
all rights reserved worldwide.
Napoleon's Arrival
Limited edition of 5
11.25 x 15"w: $387
framed & matted, 17 x 20", black wood: $687
digital mixed media/ 200 year archival print
Often a new beginning is accompanied by loss. Just as harmonies of structure, line and mass exist in the construction of houses, trees and people, the destruction of these also creates a harmonic vibration. They resonate together in their ruin and erosion. December exists for us all as a beautiful but terrifying process where the old makes way for the new.Napoleon's Arrival is built upon the dissolution of patterns and (conversely) the creation of new structure from the repetition of chaotic events. The flow of the composition was influenced by Charles Joseph Minard's illustration of the losses suffered by Napoleon's army in the Russian campaign of 1812, which Edward Tufte calls "Probably the best statistical graphic ever drawn..."Napoleon Robinson and his wife, Gertrude, arrived in my rural community in the 1930's, wanderers of the Great Depression. Gertrude was my nanny. Gertrude died in 2006 at the age of 102. Napoleon passed in 1990, but no one knew how old he was. Napoleon's Arrival is made from my photographs of their house, built by my grandfather, but now falling into disrepair.
As seen at:
Roanoke Island Festival Park Gallery, Manteo, NC
Pocosin Arts Folk School
2007 Creative Diversions: Influences of Traditional NC Art and Craft Exhibition
curator: Jerry Jackson, Exec Director, Imperial Centre, Rocky Mount NC
Long View Gallery, Raleigh, NC
2007 Forever Lost? Exhibition
curator: Marty Baird, The Collectors Gallery
All images copyright 2007, M. Blair Ligon,
all rights reserved worldwide.