View allAll Photos Tagged Multilayered
The topsoil that fuels our national economy has been swept away, by of all things, an invisible virus! The small businesses that sustained everyday life for so many have disintegrated, leaving behind an eroded bedrock of a once multilayered and prosperous system. Those destroyed ventures now must compost, laying the foundation for new opportunities as we move forward into uncertain times, metaphorically speaking . . .
This photo was taken by a Hasselblad 500C medium format film camera with a Carl Zeiss Distagon 1:4 f=50mm lens and Zenza Bronica 67mm SO56•2C(YA3) filter using Kodak 400TX film, the negative scanned by an Epson Perfection V600 and digitally rendered with Photoshop.
Part of a series of shots taken in the Salt River area of Cape Town.
For these photographs I wanted to follow the look and feel of Alex Webb, a photographer who I greatly admire. Webb takes high contrast colour street shots with unsettling, but perfect composition. Check out his book, The Suffering of Light to see what I mean.
I had tried unsuccessfully to get his deep shadows in daytime. It took me a while to realize that it was essential to shoot in the 30 minutes or so just before the sun was lost over the city, when the light is very low, casting long golden light, with deep contrasty shadows.
In addition to the colour look, Webb's work is multilayered and usually fills the frame from one side to the other. Not there yet at the compositional level, but I think I understand the contrast rules a bit better now.
Collaborative Mural Intervention in San Francisco with Matt W. Moore via WallSpaces.
18 x 54 feet (Approx.)
Enamel spray paint of corrugated cement.
Wallspaces set MWM, Poesia, Geso and myself up with a lovely wall off on the corner of Larkin and Bush in the city of San Francisco. The wall happens to be on the side of a Wallgreens.
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The wall came together during the set up for my solo show Circulatory System at White Walls Gallery.
Matt W. Moors full shot of the collaboration
Multilayered meanings are expressed through materials: the unravelled blanket alludes to the severing of colonial ties as well as Potlatch protocols; the ripping of an HBC blanket symbolically reaffirms kindship ties between clans. Copper mined from Northern Tutchone lands hold economic and symbolic value in Indigenous and settler narratives; Queen Elizabeth ll’s face stamped onto a sacred material – the copper pennies – calls into question the colonial exploitation of Indigenous territories.
I Love My Tree V2
Created with Midjourney engine Version 7.
PP work in Adobe PS Elements 2024 Raw filters.
Paper quilling kirigami, digital art , beautiful illustration of A woman under the tree with colorful swirling clouds and full moon in background, lovely atmosphere, rich colors, multilayered paper sculpture, fantasy landscape
--chaos 10
--v 6.1
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Thanks for 6,219,259 views 🙏 May 13, 2025
Update April 02, 2025. Now I only accept new group invitation that allows all media types including VIDEOS!
At the moment things are going bit slow but right now so I decided to do a food shot. Anyway once in a blue moon I go overboard and make a "Dagwood" sandwich the expression coined after the newspaper comic character Dagwood Bumstead who would make towering multilayered sandwiches. www.google.com/search?q=dagwood+bumstead+sandwich&rlz...:
Made with 300 multilayered glass plates that collect the energy of the sun during the day and produces a light show during the night. It also provides enough energy to power the entire waterfront promenade lighting system.
I was excited about the 2018 New Mexico Geological Society Fall Field Conference because I have always been curious about the Organ Mountains. Maybe you are or would be too.
When I stood on the dunes at White Sands when I was 9 and looked west at the mountains there, I noticed a dramatic change in them as I slowly scanned southward. The mountains to the north had relatively smooth crests and a slowly undulating topography.
The mountains to the south, however, were very different - they were very jagged and rough in profile.
Why was this?
Fast forward 30 years and I was standing on the same dunes photographing them at sunset and I noticed this abrupt change again and it reminded me of the same question I had 30 years earlier. Now however, I could find the answer and the Fall Field Conference would stop at the mountains and discuss and examine them in detail.
First however, a little cultural history. Cueva is Spanish for cave and, indeed, there is a cave in the rocks in the foreground. A cave is not really a cave unless there is a hermit or ascetic that lives there.
The hermit was Giovanni Maria de Agostini who traveled throughout South and North America on foot. In 1867, he walked to Las Vegas (The Meadows) New Mexico and lived atop a spectacular mountain above the town. This Mountain is now named: Hermits Peak after him.
After a couple of years, he walked south to Las Cruces and took up residence in a cave in the nearby Organ Mountains. In 1869 he was murdered in his cave and his murder has remained unsolved.
The jagged peaks of the Organ Mountains in the background, also look different than the red, smooth, massive rocks in the foreground. While we are looking, what are those smooth, multilayered rocks just above the black tree on the left side of the photograph? Stay tuned...
D0A9781
"Renewed shall be blade that was broken; the crownless again shall be king."
My life-size (1:1 scale) LEGO replica of Andúril (‘Flame of the West’), the sword of Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings.
Andúril is the reforged version of Narsil, the ancient sword of King Isildur that cut the One Ring from Sauron’s hand.
The sword is 52.9″ / 134cm long and is durable enough (with its multilayered plate construction) to be held at any angle without breaking. Inside-out rubber tires form the ‘leather’ grip and also reinforce the connection between the blade and hilt.
As an optional display format, I designed the blade to separate into six sections to recreate the ‘Shards of Narsil’, the broken version of the sword in the movie before it is reforged into Andúril for The Return of the King.
Instructions available at brickreplicas.com/product/instructions-for-custom-lego-lo...
For this month's swagbag Nivaro was proud to take part and brings you an absolute beast for Halloween.
A tintable, multilayered skin set featuring Catwa, Omega, and Signature Appliers.
The October SwagBag is out, if you pre-order it's 1500l and after the event starts it's 3000l. You can check out the other designer's releases in this month's bag here:
swagbagsl.wordpress.com/2016/10/01/the-crates-have-been-d...
Or TP to the swag HQ:
The shaded portion of the large crack at left is about 9' high and 18" wide at the base, making the multilayered concrete bluff here about 12-15' high. A boat full of rowers conveniently passed by during the exposures; and earlier a tour boat had headed up river under the main span of the Ross Island Bridge. There's more to see along the downriver / north end section of these bluffs; but by the time I got there the sun was setting behind the west hills, providing a good excuse to return a bit earlier another time. A fun area to explore with many great views of the SW Waterfront and the Ross Island Bridge.
Despite recent rains river levels along the Willamette are very low at low tide these days allowing access to shorelines and pilings that at other times would be underwater and inaccessible. When this photo was taken the river level as measured just down stream at Morrison Bridge was just under 2'. By high tide just after midnight the river level was just over 5' and the beach/shoreline and many of the pilings pictured here were underwater. Note to access this beach you have to climb down a 6' foot ledge using a 2.5' piling as a step long legs or a help hand are a plus!
To avoid parallax problems when stitching, the camera was only moved about 1/5 of a frame between exposures. NB17365-70
Made by hand in Russian prison.
These cards are multilayered and you can see newspaper through on the bottom right card.
Pattern on the backs (top left) are the same for all cards in the deck and also made by hand.
Suits are traditional prison suits that can be seen on other decks as well.
Scanned experimental mixed alternative process print.
Multilayered cyanotype/argyrotype on handmade cotton paper.
June 8, 2010: Having tons of fun working on the Creativity Boot Camp. Today's prompt was "multi*layered" so I took that sort of literally and created a multi*layered self portrait in Photoshop.
Along the lines of this photograph...maybe the start of a scary shadow series?!
I think it looks best viewed on black.
Blogged over at like&love.
Multiple exposure in camera then multi-layered as the fuji can only do 2 images at a time. An interpretation of the moment rather than a literal representation.. Olga
"Renewed shall be blade that was broken; the crownless again shall be king."
My life-size (1:1 scale) LEGO replica of Andúril (‘Flame of the West’), the sword of Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings.
Andúril is the reforged version of Narsil, the ancient sword of King Isildur that cut the One Ring from Sauron’s hand.
The sword is 52.9″ / 134cm long and is durable enough (with its multilayered plate construction) to be held at any angle without breaking. Inside-out rubber tires form the ‘leather’ grip and also reinforce the connection between the blade and hilt.
As an optional display format, as shown in this photo, I designed the blade to separate into six sections to recreate the ‘Shards of Narsil’, the broken version of the sword in the movie before it is reforged into Andúril for The Return of the King.
Instructions available at brickreplicas.com/product/instructions-for-custom-lego-lo...
Installation
An installation of multiple artificial bodies in space. Light sequences pulse through a self-illuminating exoskeleton, while delicate kinetic contractions draw the bodies together, making them appear alive. The objects shift between dreamlike utopia and confrontational dystopia – a play on vitality and artificiality.
Isabelle Kirsch
Isabelle Kirsch creates installations emerging from darkness and crafts multilayered visual worlds. She often works with found objects from urban spaces, allowing viewers to immerse themselves in immersive landscapes of color and light.Installation
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Eine Installation aus mehreren artifiziellen Körpern im Raum. Lichtsequenzen pulsieren durch ein selbstleuchtendes Exoskelett, während zarte kinetische Kontraktionen die Körper zusammenziehen und sie lebendig wirken lassen. Die Objekte bewegen sich zwischen träumerischer Utopie und konfrontativer Dystopie – ein Spiel aus Lebendigkeit und Künstlichkeit.
Isabelle Kirsch ist eine Licht- und Medienkünstlerin aus Saarbrücken, wo sie aktuell ein Atelier-Stipendium beim KuBa – Kulturzentrum am EuroBahnhof e.V. hat. Sie gestaltet Installationen aus der Dunkelheit heraus und erschafft vielschichtige Bildwelten. Oft arbeitet sie dabei mit Fundstücken aus dem Stadtraum, die Betrachter_innen in immersive Farb- und Lichtlandschaften eintauchen lassen.
Info zu dem Projekt hier:
#abfav_lines_stripes
Ail is the French for garlic, it is pronounced like 'eye' or simply 'I'...
The one on the left seems to think the others SMELL??? LOL
View On Black please
Allium sativum: here the Softneck Garlic.
Softneck garlic is the type you'll most likely see in the produce section of your grocery store.
Its name comes from the multilayered parchment that covers the entire bulb, continues up the neck of the bulb, and forms a soft, pliable stalk suitable for braiding.
Its papery skin, or sheath, is a beautiful creamy white colour.
I wish you all the very best and thanks for all your kind words, time, comments and faves. Very much appreciated.
M, (*_*)
For more of my other work or if you want to purchase, visit here: www.indigo2photography.com
IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN (BY LAW!!!) TO USE ANY OF MY image or TEXT on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved
The seasons .... changing and unfolding. A metaphor for my need to interpret rather than make a literal representation. Many years ago I did silk screening and this image has that effect. Olga
"Renewed shall be blade that was broken; the crownless again shall be king."
My life-size (1:1 scale) LEGO replica of Andúril (‘Flame of the West’), the sword of Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings.
Andúril is the reforged version of Narsil, the ancient sword of King Isildur that cut the One Ring from Sauron’s hand.
The sword is 52.9″ / 134cm long and is durable enough (with its multilayered plate construction) to be held at any angle without breaking. Inside-out rubber tires form the ‘leather’ grip and also reinforce the connection between the blade and hilt.
As an optional display format, I designed the blade to separate into six sections to recreate the ‘Shards of Narsil’, the broken version of the sword in the movie before it is reforged into Andúril for The Return of the King.
Instructions available at brickreplicas.com/product/instructions-for-custom-lego-lo...
Please note that the Black Lines above, amid and below are part of the creation process and should not be seen as Borders or Frames
DSC_0183PSX[HDR[c16x7.5btm[c8x7.5lft)&(toprgt)&(btmrgt)&(toplft)}GPPStnrdCollage[cSq(lft&mdl&rgt)3exHDRCompo
For maximum effect, click the image, to go into the Lightbox, to view at the largest size; or, perhaps, by clicking the expansion arrows at top right of the page for a Full Screen view.
Don't use or reproduce this image on Websites/Blog or any other media without my explicit permission.
© All Rights Reserved - Jim Goodyear 2021.
I photographed Bonson with an iPad mini using the inbuilt camera and used multilayered images and the SnapSeed application to get the finished result.
Here's a drone view from a recent trip to some beds of bentonite, a multilayered and color-banded clay, in the Chinle geological layer. Often petrified wood is found in these layers. There are rich possibilities for abstract imagery, especially from the air.
This image was also recently published and awarded on 1x.com
Thanks for your visit!
Dave
Reflection on John 20:19-23-Pentecost
To Deacon candidates on June, 8, 2019.
Just a few weeks ago, we were installed as acolytes, the final step before we are ordained deacons. Bishop Solis was talking directly to us in his homily. He said “Please know that this ministry demands a life of holiness, so learn to develop an intimate union with Christ through prayer, special devotion, reverence and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. To carry your responsibility with zeal and fidelity, make your life worthy of service, deepen your understanding of the Holy Eucharist, and conform yourself more fully to Christ so you can walk in God’s ways. He continued to say that we “should know that the world needs authentic ministers, ministers with integrity, whom people can identify by what they say and do, not drawing attention to yourself, but by drawing attention to Christ.”
Currently, we are in a state of uncertainty about our futures as it relates to our diaconal call.
In today’s gospel reading, we are encountering some of the disciples that are also facing uncertainty. They seem to be afraid…the proof is that the doors are locked. What are they afraid of? Our reading says they were afraid of the Jews. However, I suspect their fear was multilayered.
These same disciples had been in formation with Jesus for three years. He was there shepherd. They were his special flock. They journeyed with him, listened to his teaching, and watched him heal the wounded. They recognized him as the promised messiah-the savior of the world. Throughout his ministry Jesus has been constantly with them…but he has also stated that he must go way…up to this point they witnessed the passion, the resurrection and the ascension.
Now, they are in a locked room! Yes, the future is uncertain! But then Jesus came and stood in their midst. He said “Peace be with you” Our reading then says that the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he said this, he breathed on them and said to them “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
This is a big deal! We have the benefit of hind sight. We have seen what the Holy Spirit has accomplished in Salvation history…we have the visible reality of the Church. We know that the disciples, now have the faith and courage to unlock the door and go forth. As we read their stories in scriptures-we know that there has been a definite shift in their demeanor. The have received the gifts of the Holy Spirit…which gives them the necessary wisdom and strength to preach the Gospel to all the world. As we know that was dangerous in those times, and they would suffer like their Savior…and die martyrs themselves.
We too have received this Gift! Today we celebrate Pentecost!
We are part of this unfolding story and we have the same Holy Spirit with us! Christ is telling us that the Father sent him…so he is sending us. We cannot do what Bishop Solis is asking of us without awareness of how precious this Gift of the Holy Spirit is to each of us!
-rc
This HDR panorama consists of eight exposures, captured from Argentina Ave looking towards the port and Playa Ancha. The dynamic range allows a multilayered view into Valparaiso's landscape dominated by the port and its cranes.
Funny that one of the things Maegan mentioned on her blog this morning was sometimes "things or people" get in the way of our creativity. The word multilayered sent my mind in many different directions-at first I thought I was going to have a hard time choosing just one thing to focus on-then I had my mind set on one of the all time favorite treats-S'mores! Only when I go to the fridge to get the last piece of chocolate-it is gone!-eaten by my husband probably. So, I start thinking of another way to get some melty chocolate-and I decide to melt some little chocolate chips-only to find them gone too! (My husband goes through more chocolate than a woman!) But we have peanut butter chipsleft-(he does not like those), so I go for it. Melt, melt, melt in the microwave-It actually ended up being quite good! Now if only I had one more graham cracker left I would have retaken this shot to cover up yesterday's strawberry stains-oh, well!
better version
(..)Kate, novelist, my friend, in secon-hand shop.
This is, so far, in my opinion, my best long - distance portrait.
However, I made maybe 30-40 portraits at all...
Contax 137
Yashica 135mm f/2.8 (DLS not M - nota bene I had - and sold MultiLayered version of this lens and - maybe this piece exact - I don't know gives surprisingly poor results)
Fuji negative
Cracow, Poland 2011
Anna Fasshauer: Hello Sinki
"Marking her Finnish debut, German artist Anna Fasshauer (b. 1975) will fill Galerie Forsblom with her eye-popping aluminum sculptures, which at first glance appear to be abstract, but soon begin to recall something familiar. Closer inspection reveals them to be gigantic straws that someone has absent-mindedly twisted and crushed into sculptural tangles. The combination of peppy colors and oversized replicas of everyday objects are highly reminiscent of Pop sculpture, notably the work of Claes Oldenburg (1929-2009). While thus being linked to the continuum of art history, the iconography of Fasshauer’s sculptures also speaks directly to the contemporary moment.
For as simple as it seems, a straw is anything but a neutral object. Plastic straws have come to symbolise marine pollution while representing a globally shared multilayered experience. We can all easily picture how it feels to crumple a plastic straw in our fingers, and we can just as easily retrieve memory traces of the anxious energy we experience as we fiddle with a straw. Fasshauer’s sculptures invoke a pervasive sense of unease through the most commonplace of objects. Her sculptures nevertheless retain an undercurrent of humor, their cold, stiff industrial material acquiring an endearing human quality. Fasshauer’s choice of material underscores the laden, thought-provoking contrast between her art’s theme and execution.
Anna Fasshauer graduated from the Chelsea School of Art and Design in London in 2001. She has exhibited her work in group and solo shows around the world, including venues such as the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris, Kunstverein Offenburg and Kunstverein Arnsberg in Germany, and the Goethe Institute in Beirut. The artist is based in Berlin."
"At Presen (Temma Lowly)"
graphite and gesso on paper
8.5 x 11 inches
2023
Here is Nik Burkhart's contribution to the "Deposition: Drawn" project and upcoming exhibition opening on Valentine's Day, February 14, 4-6 pm in the Carlson Tower Gallery of North Park University, Chicago.
With Nik's piece there is more than meets the eye. Here's Nik's text:
I've attached my contribution to the project in response to your prompt. The title for this is "At Present (Temma Lowly)". I made this piece using Graphite and Gesso on Rives BFK Paper. I'm exploring the idea of additive and subtractive methods of image production over the course of the making of the piece. I was thinking about the growth of a tree and how each subsequent year it adds a growth ring as evidence of its persistence. At any given moment, all layers of its growth are present, even though you can only see the exterior layer.
For this drawing, I have projected and drawn multiple layers of the same image onto this paper to equal Temma's age (37) at the outset of this exhibition. I drew with graphite and subsequently covered it with a layer of gesso, then allowed it to dry and started again. There are 19 layers of graphite drawings and 18 layers of gesso built up on the paper. This process was fairly mundane in its repetition, but each layer (particularly the drawing phases) caused me to attend to different details in the overall image. Because of the way graphite interacts with gesso, applying the gesso layer wasn't a process of erasure, but rather a means of unifying the layers of drawings over the course of time as the graphite mixed with the paint and changed the tonal range of the image.
While the metaphor of tree and stump as relates to Temma are not exactly a perfect match, I felt a resonance that was worth exploring for this project. I feel unqualified to talk about disability as relates to this image, but recognize from your writing and artwork that in coming to terms with Temma's condition, you have simultaneously encountered profound loss and a deeper beauty through her presence in your life.
I am uncomfortable with the connotations of death brought to mind by the image of a stump in this context, but it bears acknowledgement. We typically measure the life of a tree (particularly a cherry tree like this stump) in terms of its ability to produce fruit, or at least the amount of time that it is alive and photosynthesizing. Assessing value in these terms neglects the reality that the physical presence of the wood/stump/matter continues to exist and age past the expiration of its standard utility. Said another way, measuring value (of anything or anyone) in terms of usability is a narrow view and a path to objectification or exploitation. Other connections can be drawn, but I think this gives context for my thoughts.
In thinking about a writing to be included with my piece, I have wrote the following poem.
this present
is as much
what was
as what is here
now
Nik Burkhart
Light Installation: Painting the Night
The colourful open-air-installation by Austrian artist Victoria Coeln can be seen from 4 to 18 May and from 21 May to 4 June at the Großer Garten Herrenhausen.
Vienna-based Artist Victoria Coeln sees light as a pictorial means in its own right which she initially thinks of and shapes independently from any material objects. She creates visible colour spaces through analogue light projections and with the aid of multilayered miniature glass filters processed on site. In her intervention "Painting the Night" at the Großer Garten Herrenhausen, what she calls "chromotope" images and exciting experiential spaces come about through the interplay of the hedges, trees, paths and lawns of the Baroque garden landscape and the multicoloured light.
More info here: www.hannover.de/en/Tourism-Culture/Event-Highlights/Exhib...
Nikon Z6, Tamron 17-35 f/2.8-4Di OSD at 17mm, f/2.8, ISO 1000. Edited in Lightroom Classic & Photoshop
“She was fantastic. I’ve never gone against anyone so quick, so coordinated, so cunning, so absolutely *sure*… I threw her twice, but I think she let me. I learned a tremendous amount, I’m twice the fighter I was an hour ago…”
– Black Canary (Dinah Lance), after sparring with Shiva.
Lady Shiva is thought to be the best martial artist on Earth.
When she fought Batman, clearly established as one of the greatest hand-to-hand fighters in the world, she had the advantage despite Batman’s far greater mass and strength. Batman stated that she had both the hitting power of Ra’s al Ghul and the speed and agility of the Sensei. Many of her opponents who survive the encounter describe Shiva as essentially invincible.
Though she was first seen as a swordswoman, Shiva evolved toward simple peasant weapons. She has further evolved and now prefers to fight empty-handed, though she might occasionally use throwing knives when facing opponents with firearms.
With her control over her body and defensive chi, Shiva is almost impossibly tough. It took an extended pounding from Batman and Robin (with Robin always hitting her in the back) to take her down. And even after that she could resist Batman’s truth serum without him noticing.
Shiva's knowledge of martial arts and anatomy is comprehensive and esoteric. She can quickly heal simple fractures with her hands. She can inflict wounds that are impossible to cure with modern medicine. She can deliver a soft tap that has no apparent effect, yet within 90 minutes the victim is incapacitated in excruciating pain.
Shiva's perception is supernatural. She effortlessly understands things at a glance. She processes new information in an instant. She is exceedingly difficult to trick, deceive, or fool. Shiva knows a person's health and illnesses upon sight. She knows their history of injuries. She can predict their speed, strength, and balance.
Shiva's knowledge and abilities allow her to stand out as the central focus in any crowd or not be noticed at all even when she stands in front of you. She looks young and, at the same time, as though she has spent lifetimes going everywhere and doing everything.
Shiva's training and skill allow her to harm and heal in equal proficiency. While any delayed death touch technique is exceptionally rare among even the elite martial artists, Shiva actually has multiple in her skillset. Likewise she has delayed healing touches which are almost unheard outside of her.
Shiva's "Leopard Blow" is so beyond most known martial arts that other fighters freely admit they can't even describe it.
History
Born Sandra Woosan, she began a solitary path across the world always looking for new knowledge, sometimes from teachers, sometimes from the raw experience of combat itself. Woosan found her lessons in temples and dark alleys, among coteries of assassins and well manicured power brokers. Her greatest teacher, however, was O-Sensei, literally "The Great Teacher".
As Woosan developed, she became increasingly inscrutable, driven only by the unpredictable waves of her personal interests. This shadowed life caused Woosan to be known more through conversations and tales rather than first person encounters, and so she became a figure of legend, mystery, and terror.
She met, fought and defeated numerous fighters in all styles, learning from many of them. She became a sort of modern ronin, a masterless warrior whose mysterious path was governed by whim and fate.
In 1986, she found herself in Hub City, an American town in a dire state of decay, corruption and poverty. Finding the place interesting, she offered her services to whoever would pay.
Shiva thus ended up in the employ of the corrupted puppet master of the Mayor – Rev. Jeremiah Hatch. She did some enforcing work from him, hoping it would put her in interesting situations, though it was abundantly clear that she was only following orders when she felt like it.
One such mission was to confront investigative reporter Vic Sage. After but a few months in Hub City, Sage had already exposed numerous scandals. He was known for his hard-hitting, untouchable approach of journalism and damaging Hatch’s business. Hatch had one of his men arrange for an ambush, and had Shiva go there to beat Sage up.
As it turned out, it was Sage’s alter-ego, the Question, who showed up. A fearsome and talented brawler, the Question could routinely take on packs of thugs, but found himself utterly outmatched by Shiva. She beat him and he was apparently executed and thrown into a river by Hatch’s men.
However, the Question had aroused the curiosity of Shiva. His anger, his cockiness, his talent for fighting, his courage, his curiosity reminded Shiva of herself when she was young. Furthermore, her extraordinary acumen seemingly made her aware of Sage’s deep identity issues, and of his ultimate potential to become a true master of the martial arts.
She somehow fished Sage out of the river after everyone else had left. Through unknown methods, she knew that he was miraculously still alive. She then used her esoteric medicinal skills to revive him despite his state of clinical death.
Shiva decided to bring Sage to the man who had been a sort of friend for her years ago – Richard Dragon. Richard no longer fought, but would teach. Months later, after Richard had trained the Question, Shiva came to briefly fight Sage. She stopped and left when she was satisfied that her assessment of Sage’s potential had been correct.
Months later, after nearly a century of teaching and reflecting, the O-Sensei summoned one of his greatest students, Shiva. He told her that he was soon to pass away. Before he died, however, he determined to visit three men and to tell to each of them a classic parable, to help them become even greater fighters.
The three men (who, unlike Shiva, Ben Turner and Richard Dragon, had never been students under the O-Sensei) were Bruce Wayne (Batman), Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) and Charles Szasz/Vic Sage (the Question).
Shiva escorted the serene teacher from China all the way to America, having smugglers and slave traders arrange transportation. Finding Szazs in Hub City, she had him contact the Batman, and the O-Sensei told him his parable. Shiva could not resist very briefly fighting the Batman before the O-Sensei told her to stop. Still she promised the dark knight that they would fight again, without interruption.
The Batman rejected the seemingly shallow wisdom of the O-Sensei. But a few days later he realized that the parable described the great emotional pain caused by his attraction toward Talia al Ghul, and helped him accept it.
The “inscrutable Asian ancient and his sexy sidekick”, as Queen dismissively put it, then met with the emerald archer in Seattle. At that point Queen was having a personal crisis and his talent with archery had been destroyed. The O-Sensei’s parable gave him the perspective he needed to reforge his bond with the bow.
On the side, Shiva noticed that Queen’s companion, Dinah Lance (aka the Black Canary, then retired)* was a martial artist. She sparred with her for an hour, leaving Lance with a variety of contusions and gushing enthusiasm about Shiva’s fantastic skill and how much she had learned from her as a fighter.
Years later, she would still remember about that one-hour session as the best training she ever received in defending herself. It had also been an uncannily accurate fix for the weakest points in her fighting skills.
A short time after that, Shiva reunited Batman, Green Arrow and the Question so the O-Sensei could honor his promise to his long-dead wife – that his bones would rest with hers. They eventually did so, in so doing the Question received the last, silent parable.
Some time later, as Shiva had predicted, her path crossed with the Batman. Batman and Robin (Jason Todd) were looking for Todd’s biological mother. Knowing her first name started with a S they sought three women in Todd’s father’s address book who fitted that clue. One of the three was Sandra Woosan (listed as “Shiva Woosan”).
They tracked her down to Beirut, and then to a pass in the Beqaa Valley. As it turned out, she had just been hired to train a squad of novice militia. After admiring Batman and Robin’s skill in stealthily taking out her inexperienced charges, she casually knocked Robin out and gleefully engaged Batman in a duel.
Although Batman was initially confident, he rapidly realized that Shiva could very well beat him, and he had to admit the possibility that she was at least his equal. He started fighting in a way that emphasized his sole advantage over her (his greater mass and physical strength) until Robin unexpectedly recovered and mauled Shiva from behind.
Some time later, Shiva ‘toured’ Brazil to test her skills against the numerous masters in this country. She was particularly interest in a mestre de capoeira named Marco, a fellow martial arts nut whom she defeated. She invited Marco to find and challenge her anew when he would be ready.
About three years after she tested the Question at the end of his training by Dragon, she came back to Hub. Shiva was, as always, looking for new and interesting situations and fights to drift into.
After briefly clashing with a few gangbangers, she announced that her services were available for a short period. Though she had no specific plan to meet the Question and just let events flow, they ran into each other after the Question kidnapped a gang leader Shiva intended to meet.
Having a certain base cunning, the man hired Shiva on the spot to defeat the Question, and she immediately accepted. As she was artistically mauling the Question, the gang leader changed his mind and had his arriving men attack both.
Shiva and the Question promptly allied. Since the pair could thrash all comers, Mayor Fermin leveraged these strange allies to turn two large gangs into a stopgap police force for Hub. The plan ultimately failed, though Shiva had long since drifted away.
Shiva would reappear not too long after that, hunting down the man called King Snake. He was said to be one of the deadliest men alive, and she wanted to fight him. Along the way she allied with a renegade DEA agent (Clyde Rawlins) and taught Robin (Tim Drake) some of her approach to fighting
Personality
Because of her solitary motivations and life, with her intense privacy, Shiva seems to many as being unbound. They perceive her as a person without bonds or care, who floats around at the whims of her own interests, with her curiosity and quest for martial perfection being her only driving motives.
Shiva is actually quite bound. She is bound to the discipline and law of martial arts that she has embraced. She is bound to seeking and recognizing exceptional people and achievements, and thus often surprises opponents by showing restraint or mercy.
Shiva is a thoroughly disciplined woman and rarely acts capriciously. Shiva is known for her capacity for violence, and she has earned that reputation well. However, it is not Shiva's to initiate violence for its own sake. The majority of Shiva's combat has always been reactive.
When she allows herself to be hired to visit violence on others, she will generally set the stage so that they invite it. The exceptions to this are when she is intrigued by someone's skill so that she invites them to combat.
Shiva's dispassionate approach to fighting has given her a reputation of being a "cold killer" and devoid of pity or consideration for human lives. And while those things are true to an extent, for make no mistake, Shiva is a villain in the truest sense, they are an oversimplification of a woman who thinks in multilayered complexity.
While she usually lets worthy opponents alive, this is chiefly so that they might grow and learn, and perhaps challenge her later. The main way to survive Shiva is to show a spark, the seed of something exceptional as a fighter.
She also can get interested in teaching truly exceptional people for reasons on her own, as she did with Dinah Lance (Black Canary) and Robin (Tim Drake).
As is notable in her quotes below, Shiva’s speech has an extremely precise and sharp quality to it. It sometimes acquires a poetic style as well. Her vocabulary is extensive and her grammar exact. Though she still doesn’t joke, her comments came to have a humorous value. They accurately but very detachedly point out the ridiculousness of some small, everyday detail or practice.
Her comments about the weaknesses in the martial proficiency of her opponents also manage to be at once scornful, accurate, trenchant and detached. Howbeit she will react very positively to somebody with genuinely superior skill, which... is rare.
Shiva always made a big show of not caring for the Question. She was abrasive about his supposedly unsatisfying progress in the martial arts and generally treated him harshly. But she actually cared for Charlie to an unusual degree. His development as a person, a seeker of answers and a fighter was so close to her own, that she could not help but to see herself in him.
Shiva cannot be said to have such things as a “friend”. Yet her banter and brief discussions with the Question may have been the closest thing to friendship she could have as she remained separate from such things.
There was even a vaguely romantic manner in how Shiva taunted the Question for not fulfilling her need for a worthy opponent. Howbeit, she may just have been making low-key, acidic fun of Sage’s involuntary attraction toward her.
When they found themselves working together, she would make a big show about her actions not being motivated by anything but her own interests, but it was fairly obvious that she was lying and actually liked Charlie.
Because Shiva is always acting according to her personal motivations of skill and learning, and she is not in the habit of explaining herself, she is unpredictable and, to the outside observer, often irrational.
She may develop a sudden and very strong interest in something new and cool (such as a the skills of a man destroying condemned buildings with explosives), or just drift away from a situation for no clear reason as she gets bored with it.
Worse, some of her seemingly senseless actions may suddenly start making sense much later, as new events she couldn’t possibly have known about reframe the situation.
The bottom line is that Shiva is not to be interacted with, much less trifled with. One cannot mistake Shiva's personal discipline and honor for any level of safety. Shiva will kill in an instant and often without apparent motivation.
The very best advice concerning Lady Shiva is to never come to the attention of Lady Shiva.
Quotes
“Do not torment yourself trying to understand me. Your mind is not ready to understand me. It may never be ready to understand me. Content yourself with this : I am outside.”
(With nearly imperceptible sarcasm) “I despise violence.”
“I provide my services for a fee. I do neither less nor more than I am requested. I was not requested to protect a video tape. Nor to nurture the inept.”
“If you ever touch me again, I shall shatter three bones in your arm – the humerus, the radius and the ulna. I shall shatter them in such a way that shards will protrude into the nerves, causing intense pain. I shall shatter them in such a way that no Western doctor will be able to repair them. Your arm will thereafter dangle from your shoulder like a dead fish. Do you understand ?”
“Do you have a preferred style of combat ?”
“You know I could not help myself. I had to test him. I *had* to.”
(With child-like enthusiasm) “Sensei, sensei… one of them actually cut me. I let *him* live, of course.”
“I do not have an avaricious bone in my body. I am an artist, not a laborer. You may keep the money.”
Question: “If I kissed you, you’d probably break a dozen of my bones.”
Shiva: “Perhaps worse. Neither of us can know unless you try.”
(To the Question) “Put on your mask. It is your true face. It is as you see yourself. And therefore, if you die tonight, you die honestly.”
“Already you have exhausted your store of compliments? You disappoint me. When leering animals express interest in me, they can usually drool their puerilities for at least five minutes.”
“Ah, the inevitable — the weapons. A gun and a knife. Yes. Normally, guns are considered the more dangerous and so to be disposed of first. To demonstrate my respect for you both, I will deal with the blade.”
“I hope, my faceless one, that you have spent the time since we last met honing your martial skills. Because if you haven’t, the next few seconds will be boring to me. Quite boring.”
“You are stiff. You do not flow. You do not give yourself to the moment.”
(As their duel is interrupted by a large pack of thugs, the Question and Shiva have to fight as allies)
Shiva: “I had hoped for some stimulation from you. But you have lost any claim to being a worthy opponent — and so I may as well seek fulfilment in numbers.”
The Question (almost jokingly despite the pain): “You *do* know how to hurt a guy.”
Shiva (coldly): “Of course”.
“I respect promises. Tell me of it.”
“It will amuse me to accompany you.”
“The truly accomplished in the world shun applause. The truly great shun the world itself.”
“You need not ask my permission. I believe in letting people do as they wish, as do I myself. Sometimes, of course, what I wish to do is kill them and they do not wish to die. This gives life interest.”
Question: “But why [did you help me] ?”
Shiva: “Either because I see in you myself when I was unfocused and undisciplined and stupid. Or because I am basically irrational. Or neither. It makes no difference.”
Question: “Did you leave anyone alive ?”
Shiva: “No one important.”
Question: “You coming with me ?”
Shiva: “I have not decided. Perhaps not.”
“We can learn from the rats. They always leave when it is time, and they do not dream.”
⚡ Happy 🎯 Heroclix 💫 Friday! 👽
_____________________________
A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.
Secret Identity: Sandra Woosan
Publisher: DC
First appearance: Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter 5 (December 1975)
Created by: Dennis O'Neil (writer)
Ric Estrada (artist)
* Black Canary was seen in BP 2022 Day 77!
Multilayered meanings are expressed through materials: the unravelled blanket alludes to the severing of colonial ties as well as Potlatch protocols; the ripping of an HBC blanket symbolically reaffirms kindship ties between clans. Copper mined from Northern Tutchone lands hold economic and symbolic value in Indigenous and settler narratives; Queen Elizabeth ll’s face stamped onto a sacred material – the copper pennies – calls into question the colonial exploitation of Indigenous territories.
London | Architecture | Night Photography | London Underground | Tokyo, Japan
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"Intricately Multilayered" Shiodome Station, Minato, Tokyo, Japan
L’esprit Nouveau
Grenoble, France. June, 2016
11 stories. Roughly 27 meters x 15 meters.
Acrylic polymer latex paint on recently installed insulation in stucco finish.
Location: 50 Arlequin at Maison des Buttes of Villeneuve in Grenoble.
Painted in partisipation of Grenoble Street Art Fest and Spacejunk Art Center with support by Actis and the Mayor of Grenoble.
Villeneuve, originally built in 1972, the location of 50 Gallery Harlequin is under a major rehabilitation, worth over 8.6 million Euros, which is led by Actis to improve the quality of life, reduce energy consumption, open the village to the city. This major upgrade prefigures the renovation of the entire neighborhood Arlequin in the coming years. This mural commision comes to give a final touch to the renovation of the building.’