Masters Research
The title of the research paper for my Masters studies at the University of Ballarat is 'Revealing the Essence of the Sacred'. As part of the Masters degree I also had a solo show of my art works at the Post Office Gallery, Ballarat from 3rd - 12th October 2013. Below is the abstract giving a little insight into the motivation for the work. Basically I have had a fascination with archetypal form for years, especially the mandorla, and have truly appreciated having the time to dedicate to this research.
Abstract
This research project, ‘Revealing the Essence of the Sacred’, examines the archetypal forms of the dot, cross and the mandorla. Their appearance and meaning are traced back through history and across cultures. The commonalities between the physical act of making imagery using these pared back abstracted forms and the experience, in the maker, of embodied immanence are examined. By extension the research also considers how creating and contemplating artwork can be a curative spiritual practice. I identify how the artwork correlates with, and is informed by, my spiritual practice. The research takes a phenomenological approach and is based on my own subjective experience of bodily sensed knowledge whilst making and viewing the image.
Intuitively accessing the source or essence of the subject matter has been a primary motivating factor in the images used in the artwork. This approach is grounded in the innate belief that what has been distilled and purified has great transformative power. Informing this is an alignment with both the Jungian Collective Unconscious and the ancient Indian spiritual system of Tantra.
The artworks, rendered within a ritualistic structure and using abstracted form, are an individual expression of the universality of intuitive mark making. A similar connection is established in the practice of contemporary artists who strongly identify with a level of spirituality in their personal lives.
In reflecting on this body of work I realised that I have arrived at a deeper and more complete understanding of the notion of non-duality. The images created through the embodied process reflect a distilled personal vision echoing, in pictorial form, the foundations of my spiritual beliefs. Embodied engagement with the materials – the fluid media, absorptive nature of the paper, reactive qualities of the spirit based ink – seems to have, through the medium of the archetype, revealed a portal that houses the sacred.
I knew that the foundational teachings of my various spiritual studies have been grounded in the concept of oneness and non-duality. I should not have been surprised that the archetypal forms I was working with, through the embodied process, were essentially visual manifestations of variations of the notion of non-dualism.
The dot in its repetitive form signifies cohesive connection to the cosmos. In its singular state it represents the concentrated creative origin that is condensed into a single point. A cross with its confluence of the vertical and the horizontal infers a central point: the vertical and horizontal harmonizing each other via their proximity. The mandorla, a geometric merging of two circles, infers unification of two separate entities and, in addition, a single point at the centre of the overlap.
These archetypal forms, in concept and expression, may guide and direct the viewer’s experience to a singular point, as it has done for me. That distilled point infers the metaphysical truth that is an indication of one’s true nature, or the true Self. The sacred is revealed when the true Self is experienced and the illusion of duality is dissolved.
Abstract
This research project, ‘Revealing the Essence of the Sacred’, examines the archetypal forms of the dot, cross and the mandorla. Their appearance and meaning are traced back through history and across cultures. The commonalities between the physical act of making imagery using these pared back abstracted forms and the experience, in the maker, of embodied immanence are examined. By extension the research also considers how creating and contemplating artwork can be a curative spiritual practice. I identify how the artwork correlates with, and is informed by, my spiritual practice. The research takes a phenomenological approach and is based on my own subjective experience of bodily sensed knowledge whilst making and viewing the image.
Intuitively accessing the source or essence of the subject matter has been a primary motivating factor in the images used in the artwork. This approach is grounded in the innate belief that what has been distilled and purified has great transformative power. Informing this is an alignment with both the Jungian Collective Unconscious and the ancient Indian spiritual system of Tantra.
The artworks, rendered within a ritualistic structure and using abstracted form, are an individual expression of the universality of intuitive mark making. A similar connection is established in the practice of contemporary artists who strongly identify with a level of spirituality in their personal lives.
In reflecting on this body of work I realised that I have arrived at a deeper and more complete understanding of the notion of non-duality. The images created through the embodied process reflect a distilled personal vision echoing, in pictorial form, the foundations of my spiritual beliefs. Embodied engagement with the materials – the fluid media, absorptive nature of the paper, reactive qualities of the spirit based ink – seems to have, through the medium of the archetype, revealed a portal that houses the sacred.
I knew that the foundational teachings of my various spiritual studies have been grounded in the concept of oneness and non-duality. I should not have been surprised that the archetypal forms I was working with, through the embodied process, were essentially visual manifestations of variations of the notion of non-dualism.
The dot in its repetitive form signifies cohesive connection to the cosmos. In its singular state it represents the concentrated creative origin that is condensed into a single point. A cross with its confluence of the vertical and the horizontal infers a central point: the vertical and horizontal harmonizing each other via their proximity. The mandorla, a geometric merging of two circles, infers unification of two separate entities and, in addition, a single point at the centre of the overlap.
These archetypal forms, in concept and expression, may guide and direct the viewer’s experience to a singular point, as it has done for me. That distilled point infers the metaphysical truth that is an indication of one’s true nature, or the true Self. The sacred is revealed when the true Self is experienced and the illusion of duality is dissolved.
