The Fascinating Life and Art of Sveva Caetani

foreign [Music] it is not uncommon that within an artist a turbulent background begins to reveal itself over time whether it be in the interviews they agree to do for the media or simply within the art itself at times when their past unravels to their observers it could potentially shine a completely different light on what they create when it comes to having a member of nobility as a father and one of his Mistresses as a mother being in love with making drawings since a young age but having to watch her mother tear each one of them up to then eventually being forcibly housebound for 25 years it is undoubtedly evident that Italian Canadian artists svea kaitani Falls neatly into the category of an artist with a turbulent background with one series of watercolor Works released in 1989 titled recapitulation its favor would reflect the story of her life in beautiful abstract and mysterious ways each piece explores events that range from My Brightest to the darkest experiences of our life through surreal dramatic imagery that exposes not only her amazing talents but her profound and unique outlook on the world around her but what was her story exactly what could some of these strange and peculiar paintings reveal about her seemingly strange and peculiar backgrounds well I'm someone who's forever falling into rabbit holes so hopefully in this video we can find out together I'd like to thank you satosha beans for suggesting the video topic for today and as always if you have any suggestions for future videos please let me know in the comments we got a fair bit to explore together here so get comfortable and grab a beverage for this one and on that point before we get stuck in I'd like to quickly thank and give a shout out to today's video sponsor athletic greens AKA my new morning cup of coffee basically for the longest time I thought if I'm unable to have a coffee as soon as I wake up there's just no way I can function in other words no matter how much a caffeinated 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health and nutrition Made Simple is something you really don't see enough of nowadays I couldn't recommend it enough please head to the first link in the description to find out more and get yourself a whole one-year supply of immune supporting vitamin d3k2 and 5 travel packs absolutely free with your first purchase thank you to athletic greens for sponsoring today's content and with that said welcome to another video my friends this is a story and artwork of svea kaitani [Music] in order to fully understand the events that took place for us favor kaitani's life we first need to take a look at her father this photograph is out of Leone kaitani a member of Italian family nobility more specifically the house of kaitani or gayatani originally from a city of gator just south of Rome this family earns such wealth and notoriety due to the family playing crucial roles in Italian history of other Generations ever since medieval times for example the family would become practically the most important family in the city of Rome when a member named benedetto kaitani was elected to the papacy as Pope Boniface in 1294 whose Reign would be notorious for his ruthlessness and nepotism so much so it would prompt none other than Dante Alighieri to write about him being damned to the eighth layer of Hell in his book titled Inferno within the Divine Comedy as for Leone born in 1869 he was a member of the Italian parliament and a renowned scholar particularly known for passionately studying Islam he would even travel through the Middle East on many occasions as well as many other countries around the globe including Canada and the United States he had as many as 17 different titles some of which included the prince of Tiano the Duke of sermonetta and Prince kaitani basically it was a pretty big deal seemingly on the outside a huge family with nearly infinite wealth and National reputation would seem practically unbreakable and carefree however there was an ominous threats watching from afar by the time Pope Pius IX was elected as the new head of a Catholic Church in 1846 Leone's paternal father honolato and his grandfather Michelangelo had fallen out of favor with the papacy and were not supporters of the election perhaps mostly due to political and ideological differences an interesting thing to note about Pius IX in terms of art is that he is known as the Pope that enforced a rather conservative law into how art should be represented for example he was responsible for the addition of fake leaves to historical statues throughout the country the kaitanis on the other hand were more left-leaning which possibly may have contributed to the conflict between Pope Pius and the family regardless of a cause of a sour relationship the legend goes that Pious had laid a curse on the family swearing that quote within two generations there would be no more kaitanis despite the fact that the family would simply dismiss this supposed curse and although there are still a few cousins that exist today who bear the kaitani surname there are now no more kaitanis in a direct line in other words this alleged curse did in some way come true which will become clearer as to why as we continue further in this video in the year 1900s an arranged marriage would be finalized between Leone kaitani and Vittoria Colona a member of another family of papel nobility from Naples an important detail to note about this arranged marriage that puts it into quite a puzzling light is that for many generations these two families had constantly been feuding with each other however this would not be a Romeo and Juliet's story of Two Lovers fighting to stay together despite their two warring families as the relationship between Leone and Vittoria would be nothing short of a Loveless one it was no secret that they shared very little in common and have very different Ambitions and interests in fact Victoria would release a number of autobiographies throughout her life that would practically slam the kaitany family at every given turn however they would eventually have a son by 1902 named onorato after Leone's father but who sadly would only live till 1948 due to health complications and disabilities that developed after Contracting measles in his childhood and by 1910 Leone and Victoria were completely estranged living separately from each other it would be approximately three years later that Leone would begin an affair in Rome with an Italian singer and Dancer named Ophelia fabiani who would later be the mother to Leone's illegitimate daughter who they named svea by 1917 viever's favor was born and when Leone has succeeded his father as Prince of Tiano and Duke of sermonetta it was also during the height of World War One and the impacts of a war deeply affected him by this time to the point where he was beginning to distance himself further from his duties and Society matters would only be made worse by the Forbidden relationship between him and Ophelia with their newborn daughter living together practically in seclusion from the outside world in their newly built Villa in Rome as this huge Scandal continued so did Leone's contentment for his life in Italian Society in general it certainly didn't help that there was a pandemic of the Spanish Flu during this time and the fact that an openly socialist Aristocrat like Leone was now seeing a noticeable rise in fascism throughout Italy along with Benito Mussolini now on the verge of rising to Power by 1919 and so by 1921 Leone would finally make the DraStic conscious decision to give up his land his properties his duties his privileges and his titles in the middle of the night he Ophelia and Young's favor left practically everything behind in pursuit of what would later be proven to be an ultimately impossible New Life foreign would spend the first five years of her life with Leone and Ophelia fabiani in their Villa in Rome bearing her mother's surname as prescribed by Italian Laura at the time it would not be until Leone made the decision to abandon his life and his country by fleeing to Canada with her and Ophelia in 1921 that he would later be able to formally adopt favor and in doing so her name would later be changed to kaitani with over 30 chunks of belongings they arrived in the city of Vernon in British Columbia where Leone had purchased the late 19th century wood house in the neighborhood of East Hill for approximately seven thousand dollars cash roughly one hundred thousand dollars in today's money throughout the 1920s during the majority of favors childhood she and her family would travel very frequently around Canada America and the rest of the world from Europe to Japan although Leone had given up much of his wealth the young family still had servants and a moderately upper class Farmer's lifestyle things couldn't have looked more hopeful and happy for the future except it wasn't to last now without his family's wealth Leone was now a Canadian citizen earning his fortune by investing heavily into the American Stock Market and if we know anything about how things ended up in the American Stock Market by 1929 you probably know where this is going the Wall Street crash of 1929 would ignite absolutely devastating effects to America's economy and of course to Leone's wealth things would go from bad to worse when roughly around this time his favor like her half-brother would also contract measles this accompanies with the family's rapidly diminishing wealth which takes favor out of our expensive girls boarding school to which favor would never return to by the time the 1930s began ill fortune and health problems would begin to spread within the family as during this period we'd also see a decline in health for Leone who was now fighting a losing battle with throat cancer this postcard showing a photograph of Leone sitting in bed dated in 1934 just one year before his death displays are touching and poignant moments between him and his daughter's favor during the Christmas period of that year the message reads quotes sweet darling's favor here is your father on his bed of torture happy Christmas sorry not to be with you your adoring father End quotes rather shockingly it would actually be on Christmas day the following year December 25th 1935 that Leone sadly passed away at the age of 66. a tragic loss this may have been to a now 17 year old's favor but nothing could have predicted for strange and dark turn of events that now lay ahead of her at the hands of a last living person that was close to her her own mother Ophelia foreign would naturally deeply wound for young teenagers favor however the effect it had on her mother Ophelia was completely devastating not only did any fortunes that Leone had left around his death subsequently run dry forcing Ophelia to later sell her jewelry at times to survive but he was essentially the pillar of the family and the glue that kept them together the loss of her husband and father to her daughter began to deeply affect her mental health it should be noted that despite how much Leone loved Ophelia the rest of the kaitani family would not feel the same way about her at all despite a slim chance at relatives of a chaitanya state would accept favor there was no practical way after all that had happened that they would accept the woman that Leone abandoned everything for so the idea for favor and her mother to cut their losses in Canada and go back to Italy after Leone had died seemed unlikely and by the time World War II had broken out in Europe not long after returning to their former country was simply not an option as time went by since philosopher husband Ophelia's behavior and mental state became increasingly erratic she began cutting off all social ties to the outside world allowing only her closest lifelong friends to visit on rare occasions persistently isolating not only herself but also her 17 year old daughter's favor after the death of her father she was effectively kept prisoner in her own home with a mother forbidding any of his favors friends to even visit now without Leone to hold on to Ophelia chose to hold on to her daughter according to one article I came across Ophelia reportedly complained of heart problems using her health as a means to manipulate her daughter to the point where Ophelia even said to her one day quote if you leave me I shall die had no choice but to obey this lonely existence would continue for a further 25 years from 1935 up until Ophelia's death in 1960. within the first four years svea was not even allowed to leave the front door imagine this for a moment it's hard to think of absolute isolation in the modern day household what with radio the Internet TV telephones and so on but imagine a time before all these things hardly any stimulus virtually no communication to the outside world whatsoever not even any natural daylight for four years straight it's unsurprising that this would eventually lead to favor suffering from a nervous breakdown to which a doctor had to intervene and advise that she at least leave the house for exercise and fresh air resulting in Ophelia eventually allowing's favor out on the grounds of a house at the very least but even with this relief lifeless favor would be nothing short of servitude her mother was now showing classic symptoms of OCD she became so obsessed with cleanliness in the house that she removed all curtains window coverings lamp shades carpets or anything at all that could collect dust or dirt considering their isolation and the size of a house his favorite share of a chores was practically Around the Clock every day for 25 years of her life it's favored dusted scrubbed the floors washed denied the sheets with only her unstable mother for company sviver would later tell stories in her obituary how at night Ophelia would frequently demand that her daughter sleep next to her until one day's favor rebelled dragging and throwing her mattress out of her mother's room into the hallway before her father died svivor regularly loved to paint and draw and long to continue exploring a creative Pastime but Ophelia firmly forbade it allegedly tearing up any drawings of his favors that she would come across on occasion svea would draw and paint on very small bits of paper that she could hide from Ophelia but whenever she was caught she would be severely punished writing was also forbidden including writing or receiving letters and even what books favor was allowed to read were heavily dictated by her mother's favor was restricted only to books within her father's library or those that were occasionally sent by her aunts apart from the windows of our own house sviver's books were her only way of seeing the outside world and practically any form of self-expression was not allowed within the household another slight ounce of Freedom would be granted as favor after 16 years have been confined to the property when she was finally allowed to go into the town to do business such as banking or shopping however a close companion of Ophelia from Denmark known as Miss Jewel would constantly be escorting her as favor had to telephone her mother every 30 minutes and that was the life of favor kaitani for the entirety of a young adulthood [Music] 's favor would be 43 years old when a mother of philia eventually died at the age of 63 in 1960. for the very first time his favor would have to find her way on her own she was now well and truly free but the world had never appeared more daunting Ophelia had left practically nothing in her will for a daughter giving the last of her possessions a house in Italy to the Catholic Church the situation was clear sviver had to find a job and earn a living for the first time in her life it must be said though that favor showed incredible courage and determination to reconnect with the community around her taking every new opportunity and her stride she quickly Learned to Drive she joined local clubs and she made many new friends although's favor had lived for so long in isolation it did not hinder the fact that she was well educated and fluent in as many as four different languages which unsurprisingly helped her greatly in landing herself a job as a French school teacher at St James Catholic Elementary School in Vernon by 1965 she enrolled at the University of Victoria with help from her friends to obtain a teaching certificate in 1972. many of her students would later State how much of a beloved and inspiring Mentor she was throughout her teaching career favor had seemingly turned over a new Leaf to discover infinite possibilities things could not look more positive for the future but one thing was still missing although she had started extensively writing again regularly writing prose and poetry her creative urges were still not completely quenched as she was still yet to pick up a paintbrush once again it would in fact be whilst attending Victoria University less favor would meet an art teacher during a Time when's favor had an epiphany to not only paint again but to tell her story through a large series of paintings perhaps favor also craved for a therapeutic outlet for a painful memories of her father's death her mother's control over her and her own confinements and Solitude and so the art teacher would encourage her to paint once more in between teaching from 1978 up until 1989 his favor would silently and meticulously work on a series of 47 paintings comprising of 56 individual pieces that would later be known as the recapitulation series a collection of colorful dream-like images some as big as six foot tall which not only reflects nearly 25 years of experiences but offers us a front row seat view of what lay hidden within the deepest corners of svea's mind now imagine for a moment being forbidden to express yourself creatively for 25 years straight having to keep each moment of inspiration suppressed and locked behind you and now all of a sudden you have the freedom to do practically whatever you want no more hiding tiny drawings away from prying eyes no more strict schedules but a whole wide world of opportunities now lay its favors feet it should come to little surprise that's favor would completely devote herself to a rekindled hobby she would purchase watercolor paints and practically from a very start she will paint on huge surfaces each finished piece as elaborate as a last a watercolor technique alone is very impressive more akin to that of acrylic or oil paints her imagery is allegorical surreal and even disturbing at times however's favor was equally as talented in invoking a sense of tranquility and reverence in her work and although it may have taken us a little while to get here it's now time to look at some of these mysterious otherworldly paintings together and to get a better understanding of what this series represents I should also note however that simply for time's sake lack of solid information and the fact that some of his Works only have very low resolution photos available I unfortunately won't be able to discuss every single painting in this series but I will be referencing directly from the official kaitani Center website for most of them which I've left a link for in the description below should you wish to go on a journey through the entire series for yourself foreign [Music] by looking at the painting title of the bell tower featuring a dramatic looking mountain range with its Peaks caught in the glow of a rising or Setting Sun if you look closely a very slight black outline of an ancient Roman Tower can be seen in the Middle with what appears to be the ghostly white outlines of train carriages heading right towards it towards the bottom of this mysterious imagery is the site of an equally Ghostly and mysterious pale figure overlooking this strange scene according to kaitani.org the pale white human figure at the bottom is favor herself pondering on the journey ahead of her this painting serves as an image to beckon the viewer to follow the narrative to board this train of mystery and join her on an adventure to the unknown essentially being the first introductory chapter to a recapitulation series as we already know svea was not only passionate about painting but she also adored literature which leads us to an interesting pattern you may begin to notice in this series as we continue to look at these paintings remember a while ago I mentioned the family's history and connection to Dante alighieri's book The Divine Comedy whilst favor would make it clear that her parents would never allow their daughter to distance herself from her Origins and the significance of her ancestral history despite the new life they're trying to build in Vernon Canada this would be made evidence in this series as favor would take inspiration from a Divine Comedy with her own personal touch instead of being guided through hell Purgatory in Heaven by an ancient Roman poet like Virgil she would be guided by our own father through the chapters of her own life as described by the kaitani Center website quote while Loosely based on Dante's The Divine Comedy swaver plays with personal interpretations of her work adding her own influences memories philosophies and entirely new sections that transcended its original structure and portray her own spiritual and intellectual beliefs much as Dante himself had done with the beliefs of his own time end quote foreign this brings us neatly to the next painting in the series I'd like to discuss called the summons to quote the description of this piece as provided by the kaitani center quote before the facade of a church inspired by the iconic Italian churches the Church of Jesu and the Santa Maria Novella a recollection a summons and the beginning of an Epic Journey are taking place from left to right sviver recalls a relationship with her father describing the tree of Bloods they shared as the backdrop to their early relationship and her pain is the death represented as the raw form in their later relationship at the far right his Spirit emerges to reunite with the artist and to guide her as Virgil did through the reimagining of a spiritual toils of Dante's Inferno purgatorio and paladiso it is through the entrance to the 15th century Italian church that their Journey Through Hell begins thus portraying the start of a recollected timeline of the artist's life that began in Rome surrounded by such architecture the sense of time lent by the superimposed subjects upon the scene introduces The Narrative sensibility that will continue to inform the series while also portraying a connection between the act of remembering and Transcendence End quotes foreign [Music] this time we're interestingly presented with a more ancient South American theme from his favor in this work again as described on the website quote presented in this painting is a formidable statue of the Aztec Earth mother goddess coat liqui standing at the gates of hell the name translating as snakes her skirt she was a deity who was dualistic in nature being both respected and feared for a nurturing qualities that enable life and our ability to bring destruction upon that very same existence she's represented here in his 15th or 16th century sculpture Unearthed at the site of tanoste Clan now in Mexico City with features that indicate a morbidity associated with evil and the hellishness in Western belief systems however her symbolic features had and continue to have significantly distinct interpretations for the Mexico people and their descendants favor is chosen to enhance the scale of quatliqua in proportion to the figures seemingly as a reminder to the Natural power of creation and destruction that we're all bound to the presence of quatliquet at the gates of hell for boats not only for travelers Sinister journey through human evil in the Underworld but also in considering her dualistic nature involved in both death and birth offers a consideration on life cycles and the inescapability of death end quote [Music] this next painting Bears a curious title of triptych which for anyone unaware of a word is normally the word given to a display of three separate paintings presented alongside each other however in this painting the word takes on a slightly different meaning From favor's perspective quotes a place of the innocent suffering inflicted by loss defeat and disease the fractured and darkened space depicted in this painting presents an image of these mental and physical trappings that nature subjects us to of the three forelorn figures being observed by The Travelers in the foreground disease as represented by a figure of purple flame is identified by its favor as the fiercest enemy while lost manifests in the far figure is a grim loneliness a defeat a crushing dejection interpreted by favor as a triptych as there are three experiences being presented the sense of an overwhelmed ability to persevere while suffering from these afflictions is starkly felt in the scene there are multiple hallways leading away from a desolate Amphitheater yet all figures remain seemingly unable to consider future possibilities favor would have seen these statues of suffering as universal experiences as she understood through her own struggles End quotes [Music] this next painting titled the spoiler or aishma gives us a brief insight into what's favors spiritual and moral beliefs were quote ishmaur as the zoriastrian demon of Wrath rage and fury the deity of this ancient Iranian religion who is considered the fiercest demon Bound in opposition to the forces of Truth and obedience It is believed that this deity influenced the development of ashmodius or ashmodai the demon of lust anger and revenge of Jewish mythology that was also subsequently absorbed by Christian Legends through ishma sveiva considers the concept of hatred and the violence to which it leads as she and her father's Spirit encounter the Spheres of human evil in hell this hell that's favor imagines is created and enacted by humans in contrast to the supernatural administration of a Catholic hell and includes five Globes of sin that represent evil here are portrays the unjust actions inflicted by humans upon other humans and animals which favor believed to be the gravest types of sin in this it is the Turning against compassion and empathy of other beings that's favor regards as the most terrible for Humanity End quotes [Music] this next watercolor is up there with one of my personal favorites in this collection titled from the abyss the abstract monstrous presence that we're presented to in this is so compelling and thankfully we again have some information behind what this painting could represent quote occupying the cave-like space in this painting are the depictions of the inner states of Cruelty and envy impulses that's favor condemned to Hell in a reimagining of Dante's Inferno cruelty is seen here as a gluttonous monster who feeds on the spirits of a powerless while Envy unable to enact his own damage and thus dependent on cruelty spits out Venom and aches to see grief inflicted drawing from Christian teachings and her own philosophical perspective svea developed a notion of hell and sin that was definitively her own the grave sins in her speculation of violence cruelty including Envy indifference lies and betrayal favors pictorial notion of hell is void of Supernatural punishments and is instead represented as a land of sinful humans turned monstrous and inflicting suffering upon the innocent in this it is more reflective of a living hell on Earth that these sinful acts give rise to rather than being the traditional Christian hell wherein the sinful are punished off to death end quote [Music] foreign [Music] with a theme of indifference as a third impulse since favors conception of the deadly sins quote King mannequin presents a complex image pertaining to the empty justice of apathy particularly when it relates to the suffering of others indifference has been portrayed in the form of a wooden mannequin as it means for describing the hollow lack of humanity in an indifferent attitude the mannequin having the appearance of a human but lacking the empathy that binds one to humanity a sense of the artist's sentiment towards the corrosive effects of its power is Felton a mannequin's status as king who was supported behind an impressive wall of towering buildings some of which appear anthropomorphized and ominous this work suggests a toxicity of apathy and when combined with power its Insidious capability to suppress fairness and compassion end quote this particular painting mystified me when I first saw it to be honest I wasn't entirely sure what to make of the imagery and the strange title of ramping Medusa that comes with it I just didn't know how the imagery correlated with the title at all but the kaitani center provides a fascinating information card with this painting to give us a better idea quote this vividly painted work renders the Greco-Roman mythical Gorgon Medusa Medusa is portrayed as a hybrid monster stinging others with deceitful words as they come out of her mouth yet painted as a frail and unraveling form suggesting the poisons and the groundless nature of Lies Medusa is likely considered a figure of deceits by favor based upon the historical interpretation of her as a deceiver of Athena according to the account of a Roman poet Ovid Athena transformed Medusa into a monster when she discovered that Medusa had made love with Poseidon in her Temple thus desecrating it and betraying the goddess this story however has undergone revived scrutiny in recent decades with many scholars speculating that the more accurate interpretation of Ovid suggests that the Medusa had been thereby drastically altering the narrative for betray's Medusa as a dangerous Seducer and a monstrous emblem of female deception and trickery end quote [Music] the painting titled vastudus offers us a glimpse of a final sin its favors imagining of hell with this mass of Reds oranges and a membrane of bright green being a representation of the act of betrayal quotes she believed this to be so ultimate and evil in her conception of sin that the only image capable of portraying the immensity of this act was this Galactic scene in spired by a photo of a remote Galaxy this work comments on the Betrayal of Jesus by Judas as an archetype of a sin presented by Dante as the deepest and worst one the imagery in this painting brings to mind a visualization of the structure of Dante's Inferno in that it presents an idea of concentric layering which mirrors Dante's circles of hell that tend towards the inner circle of the ultimate sin wherein resides Lucifer favor also considered the image to represent a mouth and therefore the kiss of Judas end quote [Music] the painting titled Barrack for the skies essentially serves as the ascent out of favor's hell as a personal interpretation of a moment when after emerging from Hell Dante and Virgil looked towards the night sky and are struck by the Heavenly Brilliance of the Stars quotes sviver imagines the sky marked with the constellations Canis Major the Pleiades Sagittarius Scorpio and cygnus and considers the figures that they represent dog nymph sisters Centaur Scorpion and Swan as dancing amongst themselves Central in the sky is a peacock-tailed figure of Barack or block Burak is the part human part-steed creature of Islamic legends that carried the prophet Muhammad to heaven in a writing his favor relates Barack to Pegasus the winged horse of Greek mythology and in doing so suggests a similarity within the myths of these two distinct cultures while highlighting The Joint ability of these Legends to inspire the human imagination drawing ideas as always from a father's deep interest in Islamic culture its favor here Blends the mythologies of distantly related peoples forming reconnections to Shared histories and suggesting a universality and human belief End quotes favor takes another curious turn in a recapitulation series with a painting titled the tree Beneath The Roots offering us a short homage to Jewish beliefs more specifically revolving around the theme of the tree of life within the Mystic Jewish discipline Kabbalah as represented by the Spheres through which God is Manifest in the world however as pukavala believes it is the uppermost sphere that is said to be nearest to God from which all others flow downwards towards the sphere of manifestation there's a little bit more to it than that but for the purpose of this video I just want to keep it brief though having said that the imagery of a tree of life seems to pop up quite frequently in the art of explored over the years so who knows I might do a video on it someday back to the painting in question though to quote the kaitani center again its favor's interpretation of this concept intentionally reverses this order placing God as the deepest root from which all life becomes a Wing the upwards growth of a plant kingdom this is represented as the white light at the base of a root working its way upwards through the other spheres before emanating up a surface through the tree portrayed at the core of the roots are the artist's love companions who had passed away and are connected to her looking on them from above by A Thin Red Trailer paint as curiously minded and deep thinking as she was its favor imparted incredible creativity and skill to interpretations of mythologies religions and ideas often creating something of a new philosophy in itself end quote [Music] much like the ramping Medusa painting I was left mesmerized but admittedly somewhat baffled by the imagery and title of a painting called the Watchers at the hinge for Cortana Center describes this painting in great detail though as follows favor described this work as an image of change one in which both the separation of relationships and Continental departures are greatly personal decisions despite the input of others with the immense statues contributing to the sense of the figures being overpowered the couple on the rifting Earth are shadowed by the clacking outside world of those who judge or impose expectations upon them that the statues represent the grand Louise navalson-inspired figures seem to represent the enormous task of pursuing only one out of many possible futures for they stand as barriers prepared to misguide those within their influence favor depicts herself marching towards a fetus which symbolizes her own birth relating that being born is the first loneliness we are all given to know For Love or no love who else can be oneself the resemblance of his work to Salvador Dali's archaeological reminiscence of militia Angeles is notable although a direct influence Remains unmentioned by his favor end quote [Music] almost completely unexpectedly as we continue through this vast series of paintings we are greeted by one by the simple title of her and an equally as simple or at least more limited color palette depicting an elegant woman with her back face towards the viewer as if she's a faint hallucination or some kind of Mirage in the distance quotes her offers us a sensitive portrayal of the artist's mother Ophelia contains within a transparent vessel a symbol of a self-imposed retreat and reclusion from the world depicted as a frail figure draped by a sheer wing-like cloak his favor draws a parallel between Ophelia and a moth whose wings are withered and unable to sustain flight honoring Ophelia's struggles with mental health despite the suffering she Afflicted upon's favor presents the nuanced and deeply devoted character of the relationship between the artist and her mother end quote [Music] next we're presented with the painting titled their world which has the imagery and title might suggest is again another representation of svea's parents in an intoxicating dreamlike setting as quite beautifully put by kaitani.org quotes there is a perceivable foreignness to be felt in observing a romantic relationship from Beyond in its intimacies a distance which intuitively holds the Intrigue and Imagination of Outsiders in this work spavor imagined how this distant World unique to her parents might look like by incorporating forms of a land which she felt gave visual substance to their respective ways of being her father a dreamer is accompanied by gentle sand dunes and with them an openness to change and the new informing the personality of her mother an absolutist are the rigid barriers of steep mountains impossible to overcome together however as betrayed by the life-giving greens and blues at their feet the extremes of their characters are balanced end quote [Music] [Music] this next painting titled Villa maragio again explores in a poignant way the influence of sviver's Italian ancestry and history this Villa we can see is meant to be a representation of a family Villa in Rome westfavor once lived with her parents before the long one-way journey to Vernon Canada this home was apparently one of the tallest buildings in the neighborhood at the time but due to the family moving away in 1921 it never quite finished completion though according to the kaitani center the top floor might suggest a rapidly escaping fantasy that reflects the minds of svea's Father Leone and other left-leaning Italians at the time more specifically the rise of fascism combined with the complicated personal affairs that deemed a precarious future for Rome if not radically dangerous quotes Villa maragio is both the unreachable past and the impossible future the dreams are vanished in their failure to reflect or command the actual Survivor felt that the wave and spiked vertical shapes in the foreground of the painting reflected the patterns of a dreaming brain as recorded through EEG onto graphs it also recalls the textural nature of tree bark end quotes [Music] the city is a painting that presents us with a beautifully chaotic crowd of people being overlooked by possibly's favor and her father like Dante and Virgil overlooking hell or Purgatory together in this paintings favor is essentially quote examining the tears of existence and defining The Human Experience in such a space ranging from misery to pomp the Desolation and the continuity the imagery in this work presents a large spectrum of suffering and pursuit with the model of a city as a chaotic condensed expression of such human struggles and achievements with a denser concentration of figures and situations of higher stress depicted in the lower section of the work as favor seems to be presenting as well as an image of socio-economic hierarchy the figures at the top section appear separated by not only clouds but a literal split in the paper itself effectively alluding to the Perpetual nature of human drive to at best overcome struggles and at worst succeed at the expense of others end quote foreign [Music] arguably one of the more hard-hitting metaphorical chapters since favors recapitulation series is the painting titled Harbor of sphinxes here we are given a representation of favor and her family's departure from Italy to Canada it's interesting to note that this painting marks the end of svea's mother appearing within the rest of the series the kaitani center explains why quotes Harbor was sphinxes embodies connection to a Homeland and The elusive riddle-like nature of making decisions and the unknown changes that follow them Ophelia the artist's mother is seen staying behind while her partner and daughter leave the shores of Italy for new lands his favor felt that her mother never psychologically left Italy behind and because of this could not adapt to life and small town Canada the plentiful sphinxes in this work present a sense of the overwhelming nature of choice and change for Grand Sphinx slaying God over the harbor represents Italy with its Towers crowning her heads and her attention focused away from those leaving her lands sviver and Leone then begin their journey to Purgatory on their way to River Styx Guided by The Boatman who is a symbol for the passing by of all things end quote [Music] this next piece of artwork within the recapitulation series I just had to discuss as I think it's really cool and fascinating it's titled makimono of the ninth this is actually composed of six different watercolors placed together which I've done manually for this video in the display known as a hexatic when installed the hexaptic measures about 20 feet in length the flowing vibrant abstract shapes display imagery inspired by Beethoven's 9th Symphony as I said earlier sadly unless I buy one or two very expensive books that are available not all of these wonderful paintings come with that much information behind what they mean exactly I can easily give my own interpretations like I normally do but since these paintings are meant to tell something personal and specific from favor's life and since I'm more of an art fan than a trained art critic I'd hate to presume or speculate too much this time round so instead I'd like to offer you a quiet moment away from my chatting for a while to just enjoy a couple more of these paintings as if you're looking at them in a gallery and hopefully allow you to ponder on your own theories Behind These works [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] finally came to reveal the recapitulation series to the world it's favor would at first struggle to find anyone who could accommodate 47 works of art in one exhibition as the series told a story with each chapter being as important as the last it was preferable that they all be displayed together the fateful day would come whence favor would approach the Alberta foundation for the Arts or AFA offering the entire recapitulation series to the AFA collection in Edmonton with an agreement that bafa would store frame and preserve the series despite being a complete unknown to the art world at this time her work was warmingly well received later being exhibited nationally eventually drawing attention from other creators historians and writers who wanted to know more about svea's life told through these mysterious paintings many agree that if it weren't for the care and preservation of the AFA the recapitulation works could have easily been separated and dispersed Into Obscurity spavor had finally achieved one of the biggest and most important life goals she had not only finally expressed her creativity but now she had preserved it for the whole world to enjoy and experience and so upon her death at the age of 76 on April 28 1994. the AFA would continue their promise to nurture the series for a further 35 years until the works were returned permanently to the care and collection as favors namesake Legacy the kaitani cultural center Society its favor was buried beside her father her mother and Miss jewel in the kaitani family plot in Vernon [Music] the story of favor kaitani's life and her artistic retelling of it has been described as Canada's Best Kept Secrets a fairy tale kind of story that has only emerged to the entire world in more recent times but it should come to little surprise how much her art and her story has captured the imagination and hearts of so many people by now not just from our art or even a dramatic background but from her willpower and determination alone to never forget or neglect her Ambitions right up to the very end only a year after a death a book was published which I seriously wanted a copy of but yeah we've already touched upon this a book titled's favor kaitani recapitulation in 1995 which provides a comprehensive view of her Series in book form outside of this though renowned writers would also be tremendously inspired by his favor Canadian poet Daphne Marlette would compile sava's poetry and prose in a book titled readings favor another Canadian writer Leisha Ross now completed a book titled little Fortress this book tells the story of a kaitani family through the perspective of Miss Jewel a close friend of svea's mother that I mentioned earlier who would occasionally visit them both during their isolation one thought that kept coming to mind when I was researching for this video is that the story of svea kaitani is so fascinating and full of twists and turns but it could easily be a movie already there's been a documentary film that was released for Miami's women's film festival in 2005 titled svea imprisoned by Jim Elderton as of yet only short clips from this film can be found online also according to research the book little Fortress Is potentially getting a movie deal either presently or in the near future [Music] thank you for watching this video I hope you found it interesting and I hope you found something inspiring within the story and amazing artwork as favor kaitani if so please be sure to leave a like on the video and subscribe if you'd like to see more from me in the future before I go is that time again for artist's corner here I quickly get to share some artwork sent to me by one of my viewers and today's featured artist is oddly enough another Canadian artist named Craig General from Ontario who specializes in creating these beautifully melancholic and dark atmospheres as well as some exquisitely detailed pen drawings Craig tells me his artwork centers around dreams Legends dark themes and imagery he also finds images and negative spaces almost like a Rorschach test but in everyday objects he likes to focus on religious imagery and horror cultures he believes the religious imagery is in response to having it quote forced on the person I'd like to thank Craig for sending me his amazing artwork and I urge you all to check out more of his art on Instagram or Facebook please follow the links I've left in the description below now if you're an artist watching and you want me to potentially give you and your work a plug I'd love to hear from you please send me an email to blinddweller gmail.com or feel free to message me on Instagram please also be sure to join the blind dwellers Art Club on Discord and as always a huge thank you and shout out to my top tier patrons and channel members molotail booty magic Dave NC Calvin Kai John Allen for new ongoing 24 akaiser Jose Luis and donyes Fernando and Chicago large fatty or big Chad fruit dookie Charlie sanchezi Port perea Classy Chassis Ken B and Carol H if you two would like a shout out or want to see my videos early please consider hitting the join button or the link are left below to take you to my patreon page any donations at all are hugely appreciated and help me keep these videos going that's all for me today then see you in the next one soon keeping creative and bye for now foreign

Channel: Blind Dweller

Views: 70,968

Keywords: dark art, blind dweller, documentary, painting, analysis, meaning, explained, Art, History, Art History, Artist, sveva caetani, sveva imprisoned, blind, dweller, sveva, caetani, italian art, mystery story, true crime, lost art, canadian art, dante, iceberg, breakdown, scary, spooky, horror, creepy, hidden, tier list, secret, top ten, top 10, countdown, meme, internet horror, reddit, ask reddit, redacted, childhood, trauma

Id: Y6Q3IDlhVww

Length: 59min 19sec (3559 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 04 2023