ETERNITY'S BREATH

Eternity's Breath  oil on linen 85 x 150 cm

This new painting above relates to a recent small work on paper called All of Us [below]. Please read my previous post HERE

In All of Us the 'shadow' of the tree represents variously, all history, geneology, human race evolution. The trees in Eternity's Breath also represent variously, all history, geneology, human race evolution, but they also 'speak' of the viscera of existence encompassing all physicality, emotionality spirituality...eternity. The trees evoke the appearance of lungs and the rythmic movement of breath...inhale and exhale, inhale and exhale.

After attending Prof Paul Davies Brisscience lecture a few weeks ago I have been imagining the expanding universe reaching a point where dissipating energy no longer propels spatial or temporal extension. The universe then starts to recede until a state of mammoth spatial and temporal compression causes another Big Bang, and time and space are flung into creation again. This ongoing expansion and contraction is the inhale and exhale of universal breath. 

Regular readers will identify the use of my much loved age-old transcultural/religious tree-of-life symbol. The trees in Eternity's Breath create a 'scape' which is both vast and intimate. The trees' branches mirror the capillaries of flesh and blood lungs, at the same time as evoking the 'vascular-like' energy of universal cosmic breath. The figures, humankind, seem to stand at an edge...a precipice...maybe at the point of the exchange between exhale-inhale-exhale. This precipice poses the questions: Why are we here? If we are part of the exhaling universe, what fate lies for us when it inhales?

The oval shapes, full of colour, suggest portals...possibilities...gateways. The 'shadow' tree behind the two figures disappears into one of these colourful portals creating a tension...like waiting for a baby's first breath... or for a dying person's last one.

And, of course trees literally provide oxygen for us, and our fellow animals, to breath. And... we emit carbon dioxide, which trees and plants, use in their 'breathing' process of photosynthesis.

The tree!

All of Us gouache on paper 15 x 21 cm

As I have previously written I am interested in investigating and revealing the potency of the tree-of-life, to find what its symbolism might mean to us in the 21st century. Yes, it has historical significance, but age-old symbols need to be untethered from past historical visual representations to give life to their ageless wisdom. It is up to us to release the tether and journey with these symbols as they weave their way around, and into, contemporary issues and life. I believe the tree-of-life holds potent meaning for us in the 21st century as we grapple with, and are excited by, the ever increasing close and far distances of cosmological research and discovery. I 'see' the tree branching out, and rooting into, the spaces and distances of the quantum and cosmic worlds, meeting us with meaningful ways to understand...and envisage even more...philosophically, scientifically, creatively and spiritually.

Below are two other paintings which 'speak' of breath.

 Breathing Across Time Oil on linen 50 x 94 cm

Breath Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm paper size 52 x 63 cm framed

NEWS

• Tattersall's Landscape Art Award: I have again been invited to participate in this award and exhibition. The prize money is $25,000. The award will be announced Wednesday 5th September. The exhibition will be on display at Brisbane's Tattersall's Club until September 8, after which it is moved to Waterfront Place, 1 eagel St, Brisbane from 10-21 September.
• Also, my entry into the Santos Acquisitive Art Prize in Roma has been selected as a finalist. Entries had to reflect upon the 'benefits of La Nina- the abundance that follows rain'. As regular readers know, rain and water, have been important themes in my work for a long time. The prize is announced 31 August.
• AND the painting below Cosmic Frisson has been purchased for the new Gold Coast Hospital!

Cosmic Frisson oil on linen 90 x 180 cm

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com



Garden of Eden

In The Garden of Eden Oil on linen 50 x 94 cm

For a while now, I have been wanting to visually delve into the story of Adam and Eve, a story shared by the three Abrahamaic religions of Islam, Christianity and Judaism. It will not come as a surprise to regular readers of my BLOG that the tree of life and the tree of knowledge are pivotal symbols which have drawn me to the epic tale and all that it might mean. Apart from the details of the story, what intrigues me most are concepts of the sacred feminine, duality and 'The Fall'. The latter may not be a fall from Grace , but a fall to Grace [via a journey through life or maybe lives]. For to know who we are, we also need to know who we are not, hence we need to 'know' good and 'error'. I have previously written about duality on this BLOG
http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/03/on-wednesday-18-march-at-6-pm-i-am-co.html

In the painting above Adam and Eve are crowned by the flowing branches of the tree of life representing eternal [divine] life and the tree of knowledge representing the knowledge of good and evil [I prefer error instead of evil]. These trees meet to create a Yoni symbol representing the sacred feminine. Reclaiming the sacredness and equality of the feminine is an age old quest which still persists today in many aspects of contemporary life, culture and religion. The sacred feminine does not exclude the masculine, but encompasses that feminine aspect of the masculine. The masculine can emotionally, physically and spiritually share in the experience. He is reminded of it in mortal life when he physically is one with a woman. The Yoni suggests that the Garden of Eden is to be found within and is not just meant to be some kind of external environment which is subject to the vagaries of mere human care and or manipulation.

In the story Eve is created from Adam's rib. "She was not made out of his head to surpass him, nor from his feet to be trampled on, but from his side to be equal to him, and near his heart to be dear to him." [Jamieson-Fausset Brown Bible Commentary] Eve eternally shares a part of Adam just as Adam also experiences the feminine. The absent part of his rib represents Eve's presence within. Absentia does not mean lack of inclusion. With these thoughts in mind culpability for the Temptation ascribed soley to Eve seems rather lame or perhaps opportunistic.

What also interests me is the conduit to the internal unseen parts of our psyche and spirit this story gifts to us. The imagined [by God] comes to life in Creation. How many unseen elements of our lives need to be explored? This is the potency of all art ie: its ability to bring some kind of perception to the imagined. The distance between what we call reality and the imagined is vast going beyond size, space or time. By this I mean that there can be a vastness within the nano as well as the universal.

I am not a biblical student, but I am intensly interested in stories which gift to us the chance for metaphysical interpretations and thus great insight. I am also interested in stories which are shared by those religions which in many parts of the world sit uncomfortably and often dangerously with each other. A previous post about a painting called 'Forever Connected' discusses this further. http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/05/forever-connected.html

The Garden Of Eden Oil on linen 50 x 95 cm 2009