OTHER WORLDS, AHOY!

Other Worlds, Ahoy! Oil on linen 80 x 90cm 2013

 

Regular readers will know that when I use a term such as 'other worlds' I am thinking literally and metaphorically.

With this post, in keeping with some of my other recent ones, I am suggesting journeys [amongst other things too]. But...again both literal and metaphoric ones.

Other Worlds, Ahoy! also continues my thoughts on untethering notions of landscape from being Earth-bound. In an age where cosmological research is discovering more and more about the close and far distances of the Universe, even suggesting a Multiverse, I believe we have a great opportunity to re-interpret 'landscape' with new perspectives. And...that this may provide new insights for all kinds of sustainability and even new ways of being.

With Other Worlds, Ahoy! a dominant landscape provides an horizon, yet is the viewer in this landscape or hovering above it? Is it Earth? Other planets...even Universes...worlds...hover too. Is the viewer on another of these? Or is the viewer in some kind of spacecraft madly negotiating a safe pathway to another Earth-like planet, a new 'home'?

I have used the exclamation Ahoy! as if you, the viewer, are being alerted to new worlds, like a sailor exclaiming 'Land Ahoy!' or someone on land exclaiming 'Ship Ahoy!'

So, this got me thinking, are we like a sailor, keeping a keen eye out for land, or are we observers looking for a ship? Yep, 'land' is a metaphor for sanctuary and 'ship' is one for journey, even escape. Maybe, with skills in seeing multi-perspictives, even simultaneously, we will 'see' all opportunities for escape, journeys and sanctuaries, and in this process discover new ways of being where opportunity becomes something else.

And, I was also thinking about the inner workings of our psyches where 'other worlds' exist, where sanctuaries promise and 'ships' pass through. The 'landscape' of the soul, the 'landscape' of the psyche are intriguing ideas, because like literal landscape, there are mountains and valleys, floods and droughts...and the opportunity for perspective, even multiple ones experienced simultaneously.

The two trees in Other Worlds, Ahoy! are beacon-like, maybe beckoning and warning. For me, they represent all of life. As regular readers will know, they refer to my much loved age-old transcultural/religious tree-of-life symbol and its capacity to transcend time and history...and provide hope.

I've previously written about landscape elements as metaphors.


JUNG-HILLMAN-SOUL AND COSMOLOGY
On Thursday night 6th June I attended a fascinating presentation at the Queensland Jung Soc. I have been a member for a few years. The presentation was given by Suzanne Cremin-Davidson, the Society's current president and PhD candidate in depth psychology at La Trobe University, Melbourne. Here's a LINK that will take you to a short description of Suzanne's talk plus more information about her.

Suzanne spoke in depth about Jung, his student and colleague James Hillman and soul. The description of 'soul as perspective' grabbed my attention... as regular readers will understand! It got me thinking about concepts of soul in an age where cosmology is revealing more and more, as I wrote above, about the close and far distances of the Universe, even Multiverse. Suzanne also spoke about soul as something not just within us, but also all around us, immersing us, as if we and everything else is Soul. SO... multiple perspectives experienced simultaneously... is Soul!? Certainly, Hillman apparently described soul in a multiple of ways eg: as landscape, perspective, beauty and more. Yet, aren't these all just different perspectives? Rather than seeming a bit slippery, maybe Hillman was touching upon the agency of multi-perspective? So back to cosmology...will cosmology not only help us understand our literal environment, which is the Universe/Multiverse, but also provide a wonderful metaphoric cradle for us to 'see' ourselves, in all aspects, differently...and from multiple perspectives...even simultaneously...may I suggest, soulfully?

DETAIL Other Worlds, Ahoy! Oil on linen

COSMIC ADDRESS
My next solo exhibition
Coming 15-27 OCTOBER
For some images and details Click HERE

THE ART LIFE
 A few weeks ago three of my paintings were featured on Australian art news and reviews site The Art Life's New Work Friday Click HERE to view

Until next time!
Kathryn
www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com

SNAKES EATING THEIR OWN TAILS

 Cosmic Address Oil on linen 90 x 180 cm

OUROBOROS HISTORY
The age-old transcultural/religious symbol of the snake [or dragon, lizard] eating its own tail is called the ouroboros. From ancient Egypt to the present day, across not only time, but cultures and religions, the image of a snake consuming its own tail, constantly renewing itself, has symbolised life and the Universe. With each era and culture, ouroboros stories and visual representations have 'spoken' meaningfully to people in the context of their social, religious, scientific and cultural milieus...their cosmology.

CONTEMPORARY COSMOLOGICAL OUROBOROS
Contemporary signification of the ourobors as a meaningful symbol of the Universe actually comes from cosmologists, those scientists who study the Universe, its past, present and future history; its quantum and cosmic extremes.  Nobel Prize for Physics winner 1979, Prof. Sheldon Glashow first suggested the ouroborus as a visual descriptor for the relationship between the quantum and cosmic worlds. Lord Astronomer, Prof Martin Rees has also used the ouroboros for the same purpose. Plus, Prof. Joel Primack and his wife Nancy Ellen Abrams [philosopher and lawyer], also use the symbol to describe Universal scales and humanity's place within them. This article by Prof Primack explains Glashow's ouroboros and more. I highly recommend Primack and Abrams book The new Universe and The Human Future: How Shared Cosmology Could Transform The World

This article gives you a good overview of ouroboros history.

UNCANNY
What interests me is the recurring signification of the ouroboros as a visual representation of the Universe. Art historian Aby Warburg and psychologist Carl Yung, amongst others, explored the recurring nature of symbols across time and cultures. I understand why. The uncanniness excites me, and embraces me in a sense of companionship with time and all humanity. Relationship through symbolic references, which strike resonances at a core level, promise more than we can imagine. These relationships are with ourselves, others, nations...our histories and our futures...the Universe!

 Cosmic Ouroboros Oil on linen 120 x 150 cm

 

TREE-OF-LIFE AND THE OUROBOROS
Regular readers will know of my abiding interest in another age-old transcultural/religious symbol, the tree-of-life. I have been painting images, with trees-of-life, for many many years. I know the tree has a power that reaches beyond me. I know this because of the conversations I have shared with people of many religions and cultures...the tree needs no explanation, it just resonates at a seemingly core visceral level. Well...it does mirror our internal body systems!

The tree and the ouroboros have universal voices which can be heard... if we listen. Neither symbol, nor indeed other age-old symbols, succumb to fashion's insidious seduction into short term transience. Rather, they call to us from the depths of history, revealing their potency when asked...when we realise our imaginations are tired of transience. They extend their potent reach into the future as they trigger our imaginations for what might be. Their agelessness urges us to seek horizons beyond the short term, beyond the tenticles of fashion... and politics.

THE THREE PAINTINGS HERE
In all three paintings in this post I have combined the ouroboros with the tree-of-life. Yes, the snakes' bodies are trees-of-life. The snakes eat life to replenish life...symbolic of all life... 'speaking' about past, present and future...creating all dimensions...promising new horizons.

My newest painting Cosmic Address [top] suggests that an 'address' is both a place and a time. But, words such as 'place' and 'time' seem inadequate when thinking on cosmic scales. I suspect that the potency within symbols, such as the tree-of-life and the ouroboros, promises more. Are we game to expand our horizons to embrace our 'cosmic address'? Our future may depend on it!

 

Ouroboros Oil on linen 122 x 153

 

 

In 2009 Dr. Christine Dauber [PhD, B.A, B.A Honours [Art History] University of Queensland], wrote about my work. It must first be understood that Brimblecombe–Fox is not so much concerned with landscape painting per se, but in a Warburgian sense, searches for the universal connections, or common ground between people, races and religions. Thus, she uses the “tree of life” or “tree of knowledge” as a repetitive motif and in so doing, deploys its spiritual associations as a global referent.

 

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com