This summer I took part in a 10-week Astrology Art incubator called SPACECRAFT, hosted by Sisterbride Astrology. It was incredible, and I am excited to share some of the work I made in the course in this blog post series.

I’ve been exploring a lot of my own creative work this past year, and when I discovered this incubator that combined astrology + art I knew it would be a really powerful experience. Plus, learning more about my own chart, and making art about it in the process, seemed like a fantastic way to get better at astrology!

Our very first week in SPACECRAFT we were assigned a self portrait project exploring our rising, ruling planet, and sun placements.

The prompt was a Self Portrait in Three Acts:
ACT 1: How the Story is Initiated (Leo Rising)
ACT 2: The Major Dramatic Question (The Sun)
ACT 3: The Dramatic Question Answered (12th House Cancer Sun)

The moment we got the assignment I realized I wanted to make a Crankie, since it made sense to me that all three ‘pieces’ would link together in some way to create a story.

I incorporated cut paper silhouettes as well as some printed collage paper pieces. Since it was a self-portrait piece, I took the prompt a bit literally and decided to take a photo portrait of myself, which I photoshopped slightly and printed out to collage onto the crankie sheet.

One of the coolest things about a crankie is the ‘lightbox’ aspect, so I thought it would be rad to have some see-through elements that reflected the light from the background, like this anatomical heart, and the moon in the final piece. I used a piece of white paper in these areas so it would be semi-translucent.

I used gold metallic wrapping paper to cut out some of the visual elements, and then glued all of the cutouts down to the black tyvek backing. I painted a few areas with a gold metallic paint to add more depth and texture. The tyvek is a great crankie material because it’s super strong, so it curls around the crankie mechanism super easily, and I love its textured matte look.

And without further ado, I am excited to present the performance of my final crankie self portrait!

She was a star that shone brightly, but bright stars can also burn out.

The question was: how could she share her light with the world without loosing it for herself?

She was learning, slowly, that to give the gift of light to others was to receive it back tenfold. To illuminate the world for others was her greatest gift. To help others see in the darkness, and to help others grow.

If you’re into art + astrology I also highly recommend checking out some of the other work from other artists who have participated in this incubator over on the TNO Gallery website!

Aoibhneas Croí