There is a spiritual side to fear. Artistically I harness fear, which puts me in touch with the primeval forces that, to my mind, never ceased to define human existence. For me spirituality cannot exist without sensuality and sensuality verges on fear, since it is only natural for human beings to be afraid of their deepest/truest desires. Thus in pop culture carnality becomes monstrosity. Bettie Page represented an initial pop cultural attempt at creating a pop icon that sexually played off fear, albeit with an extremely light touch.
The core image of Primeval Modality, the animation running above, is a photograph of Madame Webb, whom I deem a modern Bettie Page. Of course, if one visits her website one discovers she is Bettie Page with a philosophy. Am I implying Bettie Page lacked a philosophy? Yes, I suppose I am. Bettie Page almost accidentally became a pop icon. Lisa Webb is fully aware of the process involved in attaining pop icon status. She understands the spiritual element and for me this makes her a dark priestess, whose profound beauty elicits fear.
© 2007 Peter Schmideg