2 September 2013
Pages 1 & 2 – The Great Unravelling – a simple blood cell…but twisted somehow – reflecting the spiralling lines of life behind it. The principle means of delivering oxygen to the body – the stuff of life – and a perfect starting point for how I was to interpret this lyric.
Pages 3 & 4 – a cosmic way to illustrate ‘The strands of time, the rules and chains that bind us’. I really can’t explain this image other than to say I hope it does exactly what it says on the bottle… or how I thought the lyric describes… maybe it has something to do with fate and our inevitable collisions with the people in our lives and loves – repeated thoughout time.
Pages 5 & 6 – a ‘blueprint’ idea – with the spiralling DNA and binary code which ‘imprint the knowledge, pass the message on’. The drawing on the left of the woman is by Julie, the man is mine (BUT they are not ‘us’ before anyone asks). They sit facing away from each other… not connecting in a spiritual sense, so one leaves the other – and ‘gives up to the light’.
I absolutely loved this song on the early demos. The lyrics which were very sparse at that time inspired something in me and the final image of the nude on pages 7 & 8 was actually the first to be completed after the main imagery of ‘The Tree’ for the cover. I needed respite from the war I think!
Beginning the song with ‘I had her, she had me, spiralling ribbons, cut the cord away’ was just about all I had as an illustrator to work with…but it seemed to tie up the plans I had for DNA ‘spirals’ and ‘binary code’ interweaving the book illustrations here and there as a theme.
The agony and the ecstasy of a caustic love affair with some kind of unavoidable bond throughout time.
As a post script: There is no one way to look at things and I’m always loathe to explain my work – but if push comes to shove:) An image means something different to every viewer, and my reasonings for the imagery of A Feast of Consequences are not bound by them. I hope the pictures are a faithful mistress to the songs.