What could the meaning behind these artworks be?

What could the meaning behind these artworks
be?

Giving your work meaning
Symbolism and Metaphors in Art

Symbolism is one of the most important elements in giving
your art depth and meaning. Symbols can be very broad,
like a storm that symbolises danger, or a crow that
symbolises death. Or you can use more specific symbols,
like a broken mirror that symbolises separation or
insecurity.

For centuries, artists have used visual metaphors to subtly
communicate the subject of their works. For example,
rather than paint Jesus Christ walking through Renaissance
Florence, many 16th century Italian artists would use
symbols that represented Christ, like a lamb or dove. These
symbols were metaphors of Christ's presence that audiences
of the time would have understood. Over the centuries,
artists in the Western canon have built up their own
language of visual metaphors, symbols that have been
passed through art for generations and that are still used
today.

AO4
‘Present a personal and
meaningful response that
realises intentions and
demonstrates
understanding of visual
language’

Examples of metaphors
   A storm to symbolise danger
   A crow to symbolise death
   A broken mirror to symbolise separation or insecurity.
   Clocks, hourglasses, and sundials represents the passage of time. It is a reminder that our days our
    numbered. The clock never stops ticking for the mortal.
   Butterflies to symbolize metamorphosis, changing or growing as a person
   Tree roots- strong foundations/your family roots/what makes you strong
   Wings-Freedom
   Dove –peace
   An ocean wave to symbolise power and strength
   A diamond to symbolise elegance and value
   A blade to symbolise precision or danger
   A flower to symbolize fragility
   Chains or a cage to symbolize being trapped

   It is better to come up with your own symbols/metaphors or to put your own spin on them so that
    your work is original, personal and you avoid cliché’s

Banksy
Visual Metaphors are powerful because they are images that
are far from ordinary. They use two things that we normally
don’t see in context of each other. Hence, they stand out in
our minds. In fact, the more unrelated the subjects, the better
the metaphor. But selecting two objects and putting them
together is only the beginning. In order to create a lasting
impression, it is important to select subjects that already
carry strong meaning. For example, Banksy could have simply
painted a dove on a wall in Palestine. It would have a strong
message of peace. On the other hand, he could have simply
painted armed guards on the wall to imply war or hate.
Instead, he used both: a dove wearing a bullet proof vest.
Suddenly, the image has deeper meaning. It’s no longer just
about peace or war. It’s about peace under fire. It’s about
peace being threatened by hate. Suddenly peace isn’t only an
ideal, it’s a delicate object that can easily be killed unless we
protect it.

Dali
Dalí’s art drew from his everyday life and took seemingly ordinary things such
as marble statues, bicycles or telephones and used them as symbols for
deeper emotional themes.
Dalí explored his own fears and fantasies through these symbolic images.
Here are some of the meanings behind some of the common images seen in
his work.

Melting Clocks
The famous melting clocks represent the omnipresence of time, and identify
its mastery over human beings. It is said that his inspiration for the soft
watch came from the surreal way that Dalí saw a piece of runny Camembert
cheese melting in the sun. These symbols represent a metaphysical image of
time devouring itself and everything else.

Ants
When Dalí was five years old, he saw an insect that had been eaten by ants
and of which nothing remained except the shell. The swarming ants in Dalí’s
pictures and sculptures are references to death and decay, and are reminders
of human mortality and impermanence. They are also said to represent
overwhelming sexual desire.

Eggs
The egg is another favourite Dalinian motif, given the duality of its
hard exterior and soft interior. Dalí links the egg to pre-natal
images and the intra-uterine universe, and thus it is a symbol of
both hope and love.

Crutches
The crutch is one of Dalí’s most important images and features in
many of his works. It is first and foremost a symbol of reality and
an anchor in the ground of the real world, providing spiritual and
physical support for inadequacy in life. The crutch is also the
symbol of tradition, upholding essential human values.

Elephants
Elephants are usually depicted with long, multi-jointed, almost
invisible legs of desire, and carry objects on their backs. These
elephants represent the future and are also a symbol of strength.
They are often shown carrying obelisks, which are symbols of
power and domination, and not without phallic overtones. The
weight supported by the spindly legs show weightlessness, only
made more significant by the burden of their backs.

Drawers
The drawers arise from their Freudian explanation as a representation
of the concealed sexuality of women. Dalí portrays many of the
drawers to be slightly ajar, indicating that their secrets are known and
no longer to be feared.

Snails
The Snail occupies an important place in the Dalinian universe as it is
intimately linked to a significant event in Dalí’s life – his meeting with
Sigmund Freud. As Dalí believed that nothing occurred to him simply
by accident, he was captivated when he saw a snail on a bicycle
outside Freud’s house. He connected the snail with a human head,
more particularly with Freud’s head. As with the egg and lobster, the
hard shells and soft interiors of the snails also fascinated Dalí, and the
geometry of their curves enchanted him.

Flowers
   They are symbols of long life, honour,
    good luck, purity of mind and heart, and
    health.

   From new life to death, from purity to
    passion, flowers have had
    many meanings in myths and legends.
    Swelling from tender bud to full
    bloom, flowers are associated with youth,
    beauty, and pleasure. But as they wilt and
    die, flowers represent fragility and the
    swift passage from life into death.

Birds
   In FAIRY TALES, those who understand the language of the bird are often able to
    attain special knowledge, and people are often transformed into birds. They are
    thought and imagination, transcendence and divinity, freedom from materialism.
    May also stand for the metamorphosis of a lover.

   In general, all birds symbolize freedom because they have the ability and the
    freedom to roam the earth and fly in the skies. When birds are seen in dreams
    they are good omens – life, rebirth, intelligence, peace, hope, love, and so much
    more.

   Birds are generally known to symbolize freedom because they can walk on the
    earth and swim in the sea like us humans, but they also have the ability to fly into
    the sky. A lot of cultures believe that they symbolize eternal life and
    some would say that they serve as the connection between heaven and earth.

   The meanings of birds and their symbolism varies greatly from representing
    immortality, departed souls, and spirit messengers to representing fertility,
    protection, and strength.

Butterflies
   Butterflies are deep and powerful representations of life.
    Many cultures associate the butterfly with our souls. The
    Christian religion sees the butterfly as a symbol of
    resurrection. Around the world, people view the butterfly
    as representing endurance, change, hope, and life.

   The butterfly symbolizes great transformation and
    personal growth, so seeing these creatures often calls you
    to look within at areas that you can improve upon.

   The metamorphosis of butterflies is symbolically associated
    with radical changes in human lives, with death perceived
    as a possibility for renewal. Therefore, the breaking of the
    cocoon is the death of the body, when the soul achieves
    freedom in the image of the butterfly.

Ideas for symbolic links for
machinery/electronics
   Cogs showing that one part of the body can’t work without another
   Mans obsession with technology
   Technology/AI taking over everything
   The human brain being a powerful, intricate machine
   Head vs heart
   What are our brains/thoughts powered by?
   Link to mental health/personality types. Are we PROGRAMMED that
    way? Is it to do with connections in the brain?
   Chains consist of the circles that are linked together. There are no
    beginning and no end, just like everything in the world that is
    eternal. Of course, through centuries, chains had also have less
    positive connotations. They became the symbol of imprisonment,
    slavery, oppression and great pain.
   Chains symbolise cooperation, unity (as some have said before), but
    also determinism. Also they represent procession, progress and
    power.