In the Shadow of Shards - A Masquerade Emerges (Includes a Timeless Tune to Ponder) | A Mixed Media Art Project

For my current mixed media art project, I wanted to share a theme of disarray while navigating through the shadows life. When I think of living a full life, I feel that each day is but a fragment on the whole, being pieced together as we move forward on our journey.

At the center of my project is an exquisite pure fractal that emerged during one of my fractal rendering sessions on Apophysis 7X, an advanced version of the fractal rendering program, Apophysis.

I felt this fractal was perfect for my theme of coming out of the shadows and moving forward in at different times periods. Each period is thrust upon us at varying degrees of intensity. We may enter stormy periods in our life.

We put on our masks to shield us from the outside world's condemnation or society's views on how we must conduct ourselves during periods of uncertainty. I feel that this is true when dealing with relationships of all types, but especially when the relationship involves romantic entanglements.

At the corner of leave and stay, we pause. How we emerge from those tribulations with decisive action depends on our actions, reactions, subjective evaluations, and solutions to the problem.

At all times, we're under the protective umbrella of an unseen force pushing us to strive for the best we can be in the present or hope to become in the future.

Below is the pure fractal I titled "Tower of Colors" as a visual aid to my theme; together with the late George Benson, legendary guitarist and singer who says it best in his jazz version of the song "This Masquerade" by Leon Russell from a bygone era, but still applies today.

The lyrics in the song "searching but not finding" is the core of my shadows beneath the shards theme.

^{Video source for "This Masquerade" from YouTube}

LYRICS:

Are we really happy here
With this lonely game we play?
Looking for words to say
Searching but not finding understanding anywhere
We're lost in a masquerade

Both afraid to say we're just too far away
From being close together from the start
We tried to talk it over but the words got in the way
We're lost inside this lonely game we play

Thoughts of leaving disappear
Every time I see your eyes
No matter how hard I try
To understand the reasons that we carry on this way
We're lost in a masquerade

WRITERS
Leon Russell
^Source

Below are my steps in creating my mixed media art project while listening to "This Masquerade". Timeless.

Two additional pure fractals I created in Apophysis 7X titled "PinWheel" and "Veil2" made their way into the project. PinWheel signifies going on circles and not moving forward because you can't find the light in the maze of your situation.

I included three additional images I felt would lend credence to the scene. The white mask was the centerpiece of the masquerade theme. The hands ushers one forward, while the stem holds you in place on your journey.

^{White mask - Contributed to the #LIL by @quantumg ~ Fist - Contributed to the #LIL by @alex2alex ~ Fungus - Contributed to the #LIL by @bayuismail}