There are times in this life when the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" seem a bit much. I made these talismans for those times. I was inspired by "wound man" - a figure that appears, in various depictions, in all medieval medical textbooks. Wound man illustrates just about every injury known to medicine at that time that might befall an unlucky human being. Note the animals biting his feet, the assortment of weapons, even buboes near the groin from the plague.
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| Talisman one: front |
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| Talisman one: back |
These pieces employ iron-on photo transfer to cloth, broken jewelry and beads, eco-printed leaves on cotton, hand-stamped lettering, and lots of stitching. Talisman two (below) also incorporates a vintage tassel and glass beads.
I saw the phrase "expect no mercy" while looking out the window on a bus, and thought it would be apt for the back of the talisman. Go ahead and pray, but that rat bite is probably going to get infected and kill you anyway.
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| Talisman two: front |
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| Talisman two: close-up |
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| Talisman two: back |
If you would like to learn more about wound man and see more versions of him, head on over to the marvelous
Public Domain Review. And be careful out there!
A sign of the times, yes it is.
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