Steffan Ziegler San Francisco, California USA
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'Theseus and the Minotaur'
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Artist's comments ...
Steffan Ziegler San Francisco, California USA
Theseus and the Minotaur
I usually don't make artist's statements or let people in on the "Story," since I like to hear other folks' interpretations. But I think in this case, because of the theme, the story is a big part of the print.
Theseus, son of king Aegeus of Athens, has secretly hidden himself as one of the young men and women offered as a blood tribute to Minos, king of Crete. Minos took these young men and women and fed them to his monstrous son, the half man-half bull Minotaur, which lived at the center of a great maze called the Labyrinth. Theseus had already accomplished many legendary feats, and has shown that he has the favor and protection of the gods, so the Athenians believe he can succeed in killing the Minotaur and ending the terrible tribute. When Theseus arrives on Crete, he seduces Minos' daughter Ariadne, hoping to find some advantage to use against Minos and the Minotaur. Blinded by love and risking her father's rage, Ariadne secretly gives Theseus his sword and a ball of yarn, so that he can navigate the Labyrinth and slay her brother, the Minotaur.
In this print, Theseus and the Minotaur first see one another. Theseus has been focusing on stealth and on navigating the maze, and though he has his father's sword, he's holding it out of position and is unprepared for combat. I imagine that the Cretans kept the young men and women of the tribute alive for a long while, and sent them into the maze several months apart, so the Minotaur is shown here chewing the bones of the last victim, sent into the maze long before. His focus on his hunger has exposed him, he is not hidden and has not used the maze to his advantage.
While creating this print, I saw it as an allegory for the nature of the human being. The tension depicted here is base animal urge against a rather unethical application of intellect. To boil it down further, it is reason verses emotion. In this view, the bones in the middle serve a more critical role than a prop in the myth of Theseus. They represent the viewer and mortality. The victim, consumed by the rages and hunger of the Minotaur, turns his head to the approaching Theseus for rescue. But Theseus is calculating and cold, and will use what resources he has to succeed without regard to the consequences. Victory of one of these extremes over another would not necessarily be a good thing, so the forces are not shown in actual combat, but at a moment of perception of one another.
Woodcut print in walnut, inked in the fashion of western woodcuts, on kitakata paper.