Fire Devil

Fire Devil
06:00 mins

Lye’s fourth talk suggests that seemingly random and chaotic shapes in nature – such as cracks in dry wood or the shapes of tree branches – can be source material for paintings. (We may recall that Leonardo da Vinci suggested to painters that they seek visual inspiration in ‘the spots on walls, the ashes in the fire, the clouds or the mud’, adding: ‘You will make very wonderful discoveries in them if you observe them rightly.’)

Lye describes how he took shapes from cracked wood and developed them into the painting Fire Devil. In his vivid response to such forms he describes them as though they are cartoon or mythic characters (such as ‘the devil of dryness and drought’). He compares them with a Maidu Indian (Native American) legend involving fire. He suggests that the ‘old brain’ is the source both of ancient myth and of modern forms of art, intuitively drawing as it does upon the inner energies of nature.

Download full pdf 'Notes on the Talks'

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These versions of Lye's slide/tape talks were prepared by:

The Len Lye Foundation, PO Box 647, New Plymouth, New Zealand,
with the assistance of the Govett Brewster Art Gallery / Len Lye Centre
(42 Queen Street, New Plymouth, New Zealand), and Ngā Taonga
Sound and Vision (National Library Building, Wellington).

Research: Evan Webb, Roger Horrocks, Paul Brobbel, Sarah Davy
Digitizing: Olivier Wardecki, Next Technology
Writer: Roger Horrocks