Heart On My Sleeve

This piece was found at a thrift store in Evanston during the early days of Covid-19. A friend and I had ventured to visit with a potter, Pat Gordon (Left Hand Ceramics). She was a widow, who had enrolled at the Evanston Art Center after her husband’s death. She then found a passion for pottery. Her work is charming, quirky and colorful, and I had been attracted to it immediately during a visit to an EAC winter sale. (As an aside, if you live in the area you really should go to this event each year, held after Thanksgiving, as a huge variety of artists of all mediums display and sell their works). Pat had invited my friend and me to see her work in her apartment, wearing our masks of course, and we both were charmed.

Afterwards, having both purchased a few pieces, we ventured to a nearby thrift store. This artwork, beautifully framed, was for sale for over $100, a rather steep thrift store price. My dear friend and I have been visiting flea markets and thrift stores together for over 25 years, and she is a dreadful influence on my self-control. Of course, she agreed it was fabulous and I needed to purchase it. Something about it appealed to me. The colors are wonderful, and compliment my living room décor. As I look at the picture now, I realize there is a patchwork sensibility to the clothing and bird, so likely that spoke to me as well.

The art is signed by “Alexandrov”, and is a hand colored etching – meaning the artist produced prints, and then hand colored the image. This one is #25 out of a run of 29. Google Image Search again proved itself remarkable – when I searched just the image, very little came up that was relevant. When I added “Alexandrov” to the search, bingo! Mikhail Alexandrov was born in Lithuania in 1949 and emigrated to the United States in 1979. He is known as a “Russo-mystic artist”; an odd way of saying he is of Russian background, and creates artwork with a strong fantastical (or mystical) slant.

As the artist is considered surreal and mystic in his use of symbolism, the artwork tempts us to read into the scene. There is a sense of battle to the image, though other than the peculiar hat and odd box with arrow behind the man (and I do think it is a man), there is no carnage evident. The battle was internal – the man’s face is drawn, his clothing disheveled, and hair a damp, sweaty mess. I cannot say why, but I sense the bird represents the man’s heart.

Our collective imagery often depicts an angel - or a soul – with the characteristics of a bird. Angels have wings, often elaborate feathered creations. We depict Angels flying to the heavens, like birds. There is a steam punk quality to the bird and the man’s chest –his body is literally a cage. And the bird seems mechanical – almost appearing as an airplane. I feel the sense of a metaphoric struggle within the man’s emotions, and what springs to my mind is the idea of “wearing your heart on your sleeve”. The bird, having escaped his chest, literally sits on his sleeve.

The term “wear your heart on your sleeve” actually originated with Shakespeare. It shows up in Othello, spoken by Iago:

“For when my outward action doth demonstrate

The native act and figure of my heart

In complement extern, 'tis not long after

But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve

For [birds] to peck at: I am not what I am.”

Iago is implying that by being open with his feelings, he would be attacked – much like a bird pecking at him. There is some conjecture the imagery originated with the idea of a “sleeve” being armor worn during medieval jousts, and a knight wearing a lady’s ribbon on his arm to show which lady the knight favors (or vice versa).  

In our modern world, wearing your heart on your sleeve is used to describe someone who is open with their emotions. This can be both for good and bad. I have been accused by numerous folks over the years, specifically a number of my siblings, as being “too emotional”. In fact one sibling went so far as to dismiss my intelligence, indicating as I was “emotional” I could not be intellectual. And thus, my ideas were summarily dismissed.

The truth is that being emotional is not the opposite of being intelligent, contrary to what one brother said. There is a vast spectrum of emotional expression -from the shutdown, emotionally withdrawn nature of depression, to a hurricane of emotion whirling through your relationships. I cannot say one way or another where I land on that spectrum, and suspect I have seen both ends of it. Feeling deep emotions is not a flaw, but it does require great strength to know how to navigate. Unfortunately, for the majority of my youth, this was not a fostered process; and in fact, was mostly punished with spanking, locked rooms, or withdrawing of privileges (including toys and comfort). A child who finds herself locked in a room, punished for strong feelings, does not actually learn how to navigate relationships, and this was a struggle I had to deal with for years. A long marriage, the raising of 3 children, and the bond of dear friends has managed to help me. As has a great deal of therapy. So, yes, I too wear my heart on my sleeve. And I sense a kinship with this “Russo-mystic” artwork. Please be gentle with my heart. I give it gladly but I’d rather it didn’t fly away.

Pottery by Pat Gordon