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Edutainment > Articles on Art > Australian Artists > Kaiju Manga (4) - Mothra at the Opera

Tom Kristensen

Mothra at the Opera, 2006
copyright Tom Kristensen

Tom Kristensen, born 1962, is a young artist from Australia who works in the tradition of Japanese woodblock printmaking. On this page, he writes about his latest series "Kaiju Manga".

Here is the original text written by Tom Kristensen. Text and images are copyright protected and may not be used or distributed for other than private use without the prior consignment of the author/artist.

Mothra at the Opera - No. 4

Chuang-Tzu once dreamed he was a butterfly. When he awoke, he no longer knew if he was a butterfly dreaming he was a man, or a man who had dreamed he was a butterfly.

In 1961 the Toho film studios decided to follow the success of the Godzilla brand with Mothra the first of a dozen movies starring a giant moth with magical powers. As with other post-war Toho creations Mothra has an allegorical side. There is a critique of American capitalism and parody of religious worship. Mothra is Goddess and protector to the little people of radioactive Infant Island. She is summoned in times of threat by telepathy, musical prayer, dance and idolatry. Most often she is required to rescue a set of tiny singing twins.

Mothra has a life cycle with four distinct phases. She will metamorphose from one stage to another to escape attack and arise like a phoenix from the ashes of destruction. From a huge blue egg emerges the larva as a robust caterpillar with an appetite for destroying buildings and wrestling the enemy. When all seems lost the larva builds an impenetrable silken cocoon and enters the pupa stage. Inside the cocoon the caterpillar transforms into an enormous moth with striking symbols decorating her wings. Sheer size enables her to batter opponents and to generate destructive wind with the beat of her wings. Mothra also employs a death ray and as a last resort a shower of poisonous yellow powder rains from her wings.

The shells of the Sydney Opera House are a beautiful realisation of natural forms in architecture. The geometry of the building can be derived from segments of an orange peel, while the shapes can be seen as sails, waves, or perhaps butterfly wings. The Danish architect Joern Utzon has hinted that he took inspiration from swans on a lake. From the fable of the Ugly Duckling to the ballet of Tchaikovsky the swan is another changeling with wings. Like an actor on the stage, like a kite in the sky.

Tom Kristensen
August 2006

More about Tom Kristensen

The artist was first discovered by Eric van den Ing, co-author of a classic ukiyo-e book "Beauty and Violence" and owner of Saru Gallery. After Eric van den Ing had placed Tom's woodblock prints on his online gallery, a few days later a collector had bought the whole set. Mr. van den Ing seems to have a "magic hand" for new artists. He was the first to introduce Paul Binnie in 2000 to a larger online community of friends of Japanese prints.

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Australian Artists