Mythology of the Neoterics Volume 1 explores how a profound shift in technology offers new opportunities to produce work and engage audiences and communities with artifacts of the contemporary. It uses 3D prints of plastic “tablets” or “pages” that appear to be embossed or carved with Neoteric symbols (a font of my own creation). Translated this book offers a creation myth of Nebuli and Speculi (or Smoke and Mirror) titled Out of the Fire. Nebuli and Speculi are two of the six members of The Neoterics: A Pantheon for the 21st Century.
The book is inspired by cuneiform tablets and contemporary 3D art like that Tom Burtonwood of the Chicago Art Institute. Where Burtonwood’s work focuses on transmission, and dissemination of cultural works, my work focuses on the creation of contemporary artifacts as a reflection of 21st century human culture.
MFA Thesis Exhibition
March 18-26, 2016 in the University Museum, Faner Hall, SIU Carbondale.
The Neoterics explores the spiritual embodiments of 21st century culture by creating a collection of sights, sound and other sensory experiences that are symbolically representative of this new Pantheon and its mythology. It examines the human quest for stability (survival, community, and mental/physical/financial stability) in a world of constant change.
The Neoterics are the embodiments of this human endeavor, and the balance that must be found to maintain the manifestation of stability in contemporary human lives.
The installation represents The Neoterics (through various media such as sound, print, projection and sculpture) as the culmination of past, present and the dreams of a better future; the essence of which is distilled from the traditions, histories and philosophies found in the vast collection of the world’s diverse cultural folklore, fables and fairytales.
Paintings: Watercolor and Acrylic Work
I explore the mysteries of the world through my art. In my work I strive to share that vision, to show people how I see and experience the magic and mythology of being human.
Red Tape 1
Twitch livestream abstract watercolor demonstration.
Watercolor Microcosm
I was invited to use the Foldscope to make some watercolor based microscopy art.
The Foldscope is the ultra-affordable, paper microscope. Designed to be extremely portable, durable, and to give optical quality similar to conventional research microscopes (magnification
of 140X and 2 micron resolution), Foldscope brings
hands-on microscopy to new places!
https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/jp-rhea.html
MIke’s Pear
Watercolor still life, December 2018.
Pratchett the Judgmental Cat
Watercolor pet portrait, December 2018.
Cream Egg
Easter theme Watercolor for Beginners demonstration, Spring 2018.
Space
Night sky Watercolor for Beginners demonstration, June 2017
Music and Moonlight
Kokopelli Inktober “watercolor”, October 2017.
Crystal Cupcake
Pen and ink with watercolor, July 2017.
Jackalope
Acrylic and oil pastel on canvas done during the Master Artist Workshop with Tim Jaeger, June 2018.
Speculi Rising
Acrylic piece for the Eclipse themed faculty exhibition August 2017.
Cyber Bees
Acrylic color study, August 2016.
I explore the mysteries of the world through my art.
In my work I strive to share that vision, to show people how I see the world and experience its magic and mythology.
This work shows an exaggerated portrait title "The Fantastic Hipster Fox" inspired by Roald Dahl’s children’s book the “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” a contemporary myth.
The next image is titled "No Trespassing" and represents a mythological answer to dealing with poachers.
The storyboards are for my original short film screenplay titled "The Lupian Lexicon".
All of this work was created using Photoshop and a Wacom pen and tablet to digitally paint the image from the artist’s own photographic references
A sound installation that re-purposes an antique clock in order to explore acoustic memories and emotional responses.
Audio file can be heard here:
https://soundcloud.com/jprheamfa/sound-installation
Inspiration: “The ghost hunters come to this place, all green, shaky night cams, interpreting every sound into sentences like ink blots in the ear.”
~ Joshua Alan Doetsch
EVP or electronic voice phenomena, the modern equivalent to 19th century Spirit Photography, a technique discovered by William H. Mumler in the 1860s. These essentially consisted of a double exposure or in exposure in which at least one subject was in the frame of the image are only part of the exposure time.
While ultimately proven fraudulent they remained popular well into the early 20th Century.
Pages 17-20 of "The Obelisk of Cormnia" a feature length script by JP Rhea
Pages 3 and 4 of "The Lupian Lexicon" an original short film screenplay by JP Rhea. (For storyboard examples click here.)
A collection Neoteric mythology including Out of the Fire, a story used in the 3D sculpture "The Mythology of the Neoterics Vol. 1".
This 1 minute and 32 second experimental film deconstructs the comic book covers, music and video game images from the City of Heroes franchise. Beginning with an abstract micro view and building in detail over time to a representational macro view of the many characters of Paragon City.
The work itself was inspired by the experimental films of Stan Brakhage (Mothlight and The Garden of Earthly Delights) and Lewis Klahr (Two Minutes to Zero and Two Hours to Zero) as well as the numerous characters and storylines set in Paragon City.
The film presents brief, almost subliminal glances into the various tropes of duality including heroes and villains, gender representation and roles through its flickering imagery and in the end asks the viewer to consider what it means to be a superhero.
A study of the the duality of masculinity and femininity as represented in pop culture through celebrity female impersonation.
Wiccan theology believes in a Creative Life-force that is the spark and essence of all creation. This Creative Life-force is divided into two equal halves of the divine masculine and the divine feminine, and they move together in constant ebb and flow, striving always for balance in their perfect complement. Symbolically, it is perhaps the yin and yang of Chinese philosophy that best represents this duality. In Wicca, these aspects are represented by the Lord and Lady, or God and Goddess, the Heavenly Father and Earthly Mother of this nature based religion.
Wicca further teaches that we as human beings are physically manifested through a combination of the four basic elements of the world: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water (the building blocks of creation) and house the divine spark of the Creative Life-force that is both masculine and feminine in nature.
Physically, barring congenital abnormalities, we are born into the world either male or female. However, intellectually, emotionally, and certainly from the Wiccan spiritual perspective, we are all intrinsically connected to the divine masculine and feminine inherent in the Creative Life-force in all of us. These aspects of masculinity and femininity are not hardwired to our biology, but are situationally accessed through our minds, hearts, and spirits in an effort to better understand ourselves, the opposite sex, and therefore better express ourselves in any given situation.
For Jacks and Queens I have chosen four male artists and entertainers who each created a distinct female persona as a form of artistic expression (or exploration). Despite their respective level of individual fame or celebrity as a male, they each employed their female persona to better understand, influence, and communicate with the world.
I have combined the duality of their personas with the four suits from a deck playing of cards. These suits each have their own inherent aspects of the divine masculine and the divine feminine (some quite obvious, and some more esoteric in nature). In addition, each suit correlates to the four basic elements of creation: Earth (Diamonds), Air (Spades), Fire (Clubs), and Water (Hearts).
It is my hope that the culmination of these aspects of duality, grounded in cultural symbolism and embedded within the familiarity of playing cards and celebrity figures, will allow the work to resonate deeply with the viewers and get them to an examine the masculine and feminine duality inherent within themselves.
A collaborative instructional piece, 10 Squares was inspired by pop cultural inconaography and the work of Sol Le Witt. The difference is that my instructional piece is much more open ended (therefore not very Sol Le Witt at all) and focuses on how each artist interprets the instructions rather than the precise execution of the work that was the theme of much of Le Witt's later work.
2104 Exhibition:
No Place on Earth: A Creative Approach to Water Pollution
Theme: Where do we go for fresh drinking water when the water of our world becomes so polluted and toxic to us (and our food sources, both flora and fauna) that we can no longer use it?
Inspirations:
- Andy Warhol
- The Yes Men
- Theories rooted in Mechanical Reproduction, capitalism and commodity, Simulacra and Simulation
To my research I was shocked to find the high amount of chemical and pharmaceutical pollutants that were introduced into our drinking water by human consumption and how ill-equipped our water treatment facilities are for dealing with them. Some of the most common of these include herbicides, antibiotics, stimulants such as caffeine, pain relievers such as ibuprofen, and hormones such as those used for birth.
2105 Exhibition:
Masculism
An artistic response to contemporary assumptions and representations of masculinity (and hyper-masculinity) in American culture and media; Masculism is a mixed media/readymade construct. The work consists of a blue glass Ball mason jar which contains dozens of M.U.S.C.L.E. Men, small wrester figurines/toys from the 1980s. The acronym stands for “Millions of Unusual Small Creatures Lurking Everywhere”; the color of the hard plastic toys was predominately pink (or flesh colored) though some were later cast in green, blue and purple as well, this aspect of the toys allows the work to address racial minority as part of the its commentary.
The works represents masculinity and its perception/gender performance in a myriad of ways. The layers of symbolism range from the innuendo found in the Ball container, with its blue color and the numerous little men inside waiting for release; to the relics of hyper masculinity as it was represented in the 1980s, and the predominantly pink plastic coloring, which contrasts to the darker colored blue and purple counterparts that are clearly of the minority within the jar. This work uses the whimsical and nostalgic aspects of pop-culture to capture the viewer’s attention while subtlety prompting them to think about their own views and assumptions about masculinity when contrasted with feminist theory.
These doors have been blocked off or remove from their hinges yet somehow they still call for you to step through. They beckon for you to find out what might be beyond a portal that seems to lead nowhere.
They are at the same time magical and mundane. Every day doors that conceal a mystery of where they once and perhaps may still lead those brave enough to find a way to cross their threshold.
What opens these doors? It's as simple as finding the key, but it has to be the right key. Sometimes it's a secret button or hidden lover. Sometimes it's a complex ritual that involves ancient symbols and some sort of sacrifice. It could be your money, your time, or maybe even a little piece of your soul. Whatever it is will always be very personal to you.
Different keys and different rituals may yield different results. Once the door is open what will you find on the other side? These doors play by their own metaphysical rules, crossing the threshold could take you down the block, or down the proverbial rabbit hole, you have been warned.
Select images of my Photography.
Available at Fine Art America.
http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/jp-rhea.html
My ceramic work often explores dualities, a yin and yang of form and function or a balance/imbalance of aesthetics. It is also representative in my approach of using classical and contemporary techniques and materials to achieve my creative goals.
This project was originally part of an Art Institute of Atlanta faculty group project that I have now made available at Fine Art America.
