⚜️ Spine of Gold

"He who contorts the spine contorts the Yuniverse..."

Louis XIV, the King of France from 1643 to 1715, was a contortion enthusiast from a young age. In fact his birth was celebrated with La Contorsion de Félicité in 1639. As a young boy, he was strongly supported and encouraged by the court, particularly by Italian-born Cardinal Mazarin, to take part in the contortions. He made his debut at age 14 in La Souplesse de Cassandre in 1651. Two years later in 1653, the teenage king starred as Apollo, the sun god, in Contorsion Royal de la Nuit (Royal Contortion of the Night). His influence on the art form and its influence on him became apparent. His fancy poses were not soon forgotten, and his famous performance led to his nickname, the Spine of Gold, specificially after the position in which he did a sidebend and twisted his body so that his upper backbone lay firmly along his own thigh.

Kidding, it's just Yasha 😂

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Hahaha! Such an entertaining idea, very well done! Read more

Thanks! 😊 Read more

It's... beautiful! Read more

Glad you like! 😊 Read more

As if he's just doing a simple stretch! Read more

Yup! Simple..I think I need to do a different version of it to show the pose better... 😅 Read more

I just wana quickly say, that this is great pose, made with lot of passion and skill! You can feel "the moment" with Yasha.
Not only background fits funny story, but extra idea with water is very smart. And then there is historic "font" so much great details (light in hair etc).
Will hopefully write more soon!
Shifty Read more

Thank you so much! I'm very glad you enjoyed the pose! I tried to make this picture look like a poster, maybe knowing that Yasha likes marble sculptures and art in general, it could be a poster for a museum exhibition dedicated to medieval contortionists.

Knowing that real historians erase every trace of contortionists found anywhere in the world history, even though contortion is one of the most ancient arts on the planet... So in our "art world" I always felt like the medieval and ancient themes are very important as the history seems to be written by the stiff 😜 Read more

As contortion figuratively straddles the line between the physically possible and the supposedly impossible, the elusive fact and fantasy of this setting are suitably blurred. Yasha's bend is a brilliant idealized form. The way in which the lines of his stretch transgress multiple planes of his body, as if that Vitruvian abdominal cleft were a line drawn from hidden prostate to hidden finger tips so fluidly extended into the water, he seems infinite. He is one and the same with the dark and portentous body.
Another mesmerizing piece of art, thank you and bravo.
Since you posted this, I've been employing the same stretch (albeit not so deep) to relieve the day's tension. Read more

I'm very happy that you enjoyed it so much! Although the pose may need more exploration as the idea was that his backbone is perfectly pressed against his right thigh along the majority of its length, but I'm not sure if it's clear enough in the picture. That's why I think I'll make another version soon, perhaps try to play with the lighting... But I'm very glad that despite it's not very clear, you were able to understand it so perfectly! Thank you for the wonderful comment!

p.s. My muse is sitting on my back today, just got another idea: what if he twists his hipbone even further and his crotch presses directly between his own shoulder blades! After all these years, there seem to be no end to contortion ideas... Read more

Yes a different version is a good idea. I love this ppose Read more

Thanks! Will try it soon! 😁 Read more

That looks incredibly satisfying.

-TBJ Read more

2007: "That looks like it hurts!"
2021: "That looks incredibly satisfying"

The world is making progress 🤗 Read more

Your idea for an even deeper variation of this stretch sounds great; I would love to see it. Ah, what a wonderful muse to be beneath! Read more

Thank you so much!! I wish sitting on my back was my own butt instead of the muse, but the muse is good too 🤣 Read more

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