A painting with a pale background beneath calligraphic lines and shapes. A poem in Georgian is in the background.

Rives Granade

Vorpal Blade, 2022

Ink, dyed gesso, graphite, and oil on canvas

69 x 59 x 2 in.

175.3 x 149.9 x 5.1 cm

Rives Granade’s painting Vorpal Blade (2022) began with Lewis Carroll’s children’s poem, “Jabberwocky.” The poem includes many invented and meaningless words as it depicts a battle between good and evil. Ultimately, the evil being is vanquished by a “vorpal blade.” Granade used Google Translate to translate the poem into Georgian, a language he selected for its formal qualities. Reveling in the mystery and impossibility of translating imaginary English words into another language, Granade delighted that “Vorpal Blade” remained untranslated. “Vorpal Blade” also appears in the game Dungeons and Dragons, where “vorpal” is a magic quality that can be applied to a fictitious bladed weapon and create the ability to slice off an enemy’s head in a single stroke. The first layer of ink on canvas transcribes the translated “Jabberwocky” poem. Subsequently, ink, graphite, dyed gesso, and oil layer various biological synapses whose forms are sourced from popular tattoos (such as the musician Grimes’ white ink back tattoo), Roman lion heads, and crosses (a form that interests the artist despite any religious significance).

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