Presentation showing the use of animals in paintings of Michael Armitage and others in art history. Animals stand as symbols for many different things and this was shown to a group of social prescribing participants who were themselves experienced artists. I asked them to create a new drawing or painting which included an animal together with another object or theme that told the viewer more about the artist's personality.

1. ANIMALS AS SYMBOLS IN
ARMITAGE’S PAINTINGS:
“A way of thinking through something”
The Octopuses Veil
A bright red octopus disguises itself as a
tree and lies in wait for a fisherman, who
it will eat in retaliation for all the
octopuses he has slaughtered.

2. Armitage saw an interview on TV with a traditional healer from Uganda, who would warn his
clients about what he called ‘seductive’ animals that would lead them down the wrong path.
ANIMALS AS SYMBOLS IN ARMITAGE’S PAINTINGS

3. The TOAD is a recurring theme in his series The Paradise Edict – could stand for political deceit
ANIMALS AS SYMBOLS IN ARMITAGE’S PAINTINGS

4. ANIMALS AS SYMBOLS IN ARMITAGE’S PAINTINGS
Kariakor
Peasant fugure in the
fields (like Gaugin / Van
Gogh. Sense of
otherness. Similar to
White Horse by Gauguin
White Horse by Gauguin

5. ANIMALS AS SYMBOLS IN ARMITAGE’S PAINTINGS
Lucy
A comment on LGBTQ issues in East Africa

6. ANIMALS AS SYMBOLS IN ARMITAGE’S PAINTINGS
The Paradise Edict (detail)
Mydas, 2019
(Detail)

7. Symbols / Metaphors in other artists’ works…
Frida Kahlo
After periods of depression her life
she gave herself to pets around her.
She liked to use animals as models in
her artworks.
• hummingbirds,
• dogs,
• cats
• Deer
• Parrot
• Butterflies
• Spider monkeys.

8. The hummingbird symbolizes hope and good luck in Mexican
culture.
However, The hummingbird pendant can also refer
to Huitzilopochtli. It is the Aztec god of war and may refer to
the pain Kahlo suffered all her life internally.
Butterflies symbolize resurrection and it may refer to her
rebirth in life after the accident.
However, the audience may notice the black cat – known as a
symbol of bad luck behind the right shoulder of Kahlo.
Self Portrait with Thorn Necklace and
Hummingbird, 1940
AMBIGUITY as a device in art – having many (often
contradictory meanings) leaves it up to the viewer to
interpret the piece how they wish.

9. Salvador Dali Henri Rousseau