Patrick Reichel is a German illustrator who has one overarching passion--his character, Reptile Cynrik.
I am always fascinated by the breadth of interests and attractions gay man have. (I am assuming this man is gay. If he isn't, his art sure seems like it.) In Mr. Reichel's case he is inordinately fond of anthropomorphic lizard men and Reptile Cynrik is one very well put together lizard. He comes close to being sexy.
I generally shy away from appreciating characters with none- human heads and faces, but a lizard man with a ape-like face would be ridiculous. I often wonder how these creatures deal with the issue of their sharp teeth. Guy gets too excited and he bites off your equipment. Not a pleasant thought. Maybe they just enjoy butt play. Anyway . . .
The second illustration down, that features a human and reptile fighting together, reminds me of the movie "Enemy Mine". I sometimes wonder if this anthropomorphizing of reptiles (teenage mutant ninja turtles, etc.) is an attempt to re-connect with the "reptilian brain"? In other words, these deep, underlying elements of our consciousness that have been pushed into the subconscious by a very active and powerful intellect. In a way, the artist may be representing a connection, and even partnership, between human ego/intellect and the reptilian Id. Just musing... :-)
ReplyDeleteI believe that the reason we aspire towards anthropomorphic blending of human traits and animal physicalities is because we feel as humans, to a degree, to be lacking. In the case of reptiles, the attraction is probably based on being thick skinned, strong, resilient and non-emotional. A reptile never considers things from a compassionate mind set. It's just pursuit of prey, ingestion, digestion, and reproduction. Or that is how we supposedly sophisticated humans see it. And that, no doubt, is the admirable collection of traits for people who admire creations such as lizard men, ninja turtles, nagas (myself there), and, in ever greater numbers, dragons. Plus, there are undeniable facets of sensuality, grace, and power that many humans feel they are deprived of. There is, to a certain extent, a subconscious connection to the intuitive reptilian brain, but I believe what drives any of us to admire these kind of beings are overt characteristics that we fantasize would replace our own very human flaws and thus make us more powerfully able to compete on many levels in this often difficult and stress-filled world. I am sorry to say that we have too entirely a strong and unreasonable fear-induced prejudice toward animals that we find difficult to understand the motives of. In particular, this addresses undue prejudice toward all reptiles no matter how benign they are and to creatures like spiders. All it takes to disturb many people is a simple encounter with any of these creatures and the entire reptile or arachnid group is vilified. Since they aren't considered cute and cuddly they are deemed to have no worth. But we would not inhabit Earth as a dominant species were it not for the contributions of spiders and snakes. I for one love to look at all the imagined blendings like scorptaurs, striders, manipedes dracotaurs and imagine how our world would be if humans had retained their harmonic relationship with all of nature instead of letting the ancient fears rule the day.
ReplyDeleteThanks for musing, Michael.