MIND AND CONSCIOUSNESS IN A COSMIC AGE-ONLINE EXHIBITION

Meeting Place Of The Mind Oil on linen 100 x 70 cm

 

MIND AND CONSCIOUSNESS IN A COSMIC AGE

 

 

I know it's a big title with an enormous scope. But, I have no intention to analyse 'mind' or 'consciousness' or even 'cosmic age' in an academic way.

 

What I thought I would do is curate an online exhibition of my paintings that touch upon various aspects of mind and consciousness in a cosmic age. Regular readers will know that these three elements, amongst other things, pervade my work either overtly or subliminally.

 

So here goes!

 

Meeting Place Of the Mind [above] is a particular favourite of mine. It is a painting where opposites, represented by the male and female figures, merge into one. The dendritic trees-of-life and the neural-like appearance of the merged figures evokes concepts of mind and all the elements within. The 'meeting place' is in an indeterminable place of time and space. I particularly did not use the plural of 'mind' in the title, because I wanted The Mind to be something more than simply a collective.

 

You can read more at my previous BLOG post HERE

Price etc details are on my website HERE

 

 

The Hidden Seen In My Mind's Eye Oil on linen 80 x 120 cm 2004

 

The Hidden Seen In My Mind's Eye is an earlier painting [2004] when my vision was still more Earth bound than it is now. Yet distant horizons beckon with their cosmic promises! I remember titling this painting...it just came to me...and as time passes I have more and more revelations about what it might mean. After all the word 'hidden' asks...no teases...for revelation.

I love the idea that the mind may have an 'eye'. What do you think?

All the details for this painting are on my website HERE

 The Beginning Of Everything Oil on linen 90 x 180 cm

 

 

Perpetual Beginning Oil on linen 80 x 120 cm

 

 

The Beginning of Everything is a painting that tries to envision those nano seconds just after the Big Bang. So it's really a 'landscape' of the beginning of the Universe! But, does this also mean the beginning of consciousness? If we are star dust, then were the first small signs of consciousness in existence even before we humans manifested into flesh and blood? I don't know, but gee it's fun to think about this kind of stuff!

 

Perpetual Beginning : Constant change is the theme of this painting. In fact, perpetual constant change. Each change is a new beginning, so we experience perpetual beginnings too. This is an experience that crosses all spaces and places. In the 21st century we are learning more about the Universe. How is this affecting our understanding of consciousness? Are the ever increasing horizons of the quantum and cosmic worlds revealing more about consciousness?

 

For pricing etc details for The Beginning Of Everything please click HERE

For pricing etc details for Perpetual Beginning please click HERE

 

Multiverse Oil on linen 80 x 100 cm

Multiverse is another painting, like The Beginning Of Everything, which can be 'read' as a metaphor for mind or consciousness. How so with Multiverse?

Here is a quote from my previous post for Multiverse:
The tree in Multiverse is my much loved transcultural/religious tree-of-life/knowledge. Its branches weave the fabric of Space, which can also be seen metaphorically as the fabric of our soul. In one nano-second we can propel perceptions from the outer reaches of the imagined universe, to the inner reaches of our subconscious, our psyche, our soul. I love the feeling in my brain when my imagination swings from the outwardly vast to the inwardly intimate, but equally vast in possibility. It's a distance thing! From a soul point of view, the small portals in Multiverse offer potentail conduits to new discoveries about ourselves, new connections to who we are as we reflect upon experiences that have taught us who we are not.

For pricing etc details for Multiverse please click HERE

 The Colour Of Knowledge Oil on linen 62 x 82 cm

 

Birth of Knowledge and Faith Oil on linen 120 x 160 cm

The two paintings above The Colour Of Knowledge and Birth of Knowledge and Faith are metaphoric 'readings' of stories from the Bible. Like many stories, the depths of meaning go way beyond literal interpretations. And, many religious stories are shared across religions, revealing patterns that speak of core traits...or maybe one consciousness?

In The Colour Of Knowledge the moment when Eve takes from the tree is depicted. As she takes from the tree-of-knowledge opposites enter the world/consciousness. Prior to this, 'nakedness' and difference could not be seen, as opposites did not exist. Between new found antimonies is a space where an array of knowledge exists. This is represented by the colour that emanates in The Colour of Knowledge. 

The Birth of Knowledge and Faith This is a quote from my previous post:
Knowledge and faith, go hand in hand. For me they are dance partners taking us on a journey through the close and far distances between antimonies, where we have potential to 'find' ourselves by experimenting; by finding out who we are not, in order to know who we are.

For pricing details etc for The Colour Of Knowledge please click HERE
For pricing details etc for The Birth fo Knowledge and Faith please click HERE

Beyond The Dark Night Of The Soul Oil on linen 100 x 100 cm

Here is a quote from my previous post:

I deliberately put the word 'beyond' in the title of Beyond The Dark Night Of The Soul [above] to indicate that even though a journey into the 'dark night of the soul' is something most people will experience, at some stage in their lives, there is a place beyond the suffering.

This painting speaks of mind, spirit, consciousness and more. It suggests that the journey of life, whilst turbulent at times, is just that...a journey where we experince highs and lows, we learn and we imagine.

The idea of a 'beyond' resonates with cosmic potential.

Cosmic Address Oil on linen 90 x 180 cm

 

Cosmic Address is the most recent painting in this online exhibition. The 'address' need not be physical! Maybe the mind is a reflection of the Universe [or even Multiverse]? Where would that place consciousness? Perhaps everywhere!

 

Cosmic Address will be in my next exhibition called:

COSMIC ADDRESS 15-10-13 to 27-10-13 at Graydon Gallery, Brisbane. I am really excited about this show. Shall keep you posted!

 

I hope you have enjoyed this selection of paintings.

 

OTHER NEWS

 

My friend Dr. George Blair-West's award winning inspirational novel 'The Way Of The Quest' has been FREE for Kindle download over the Mother's Day weekend. The deal closes at 5 pm today Monday 13 May [Brisbane time] Check it out HERE

 

Over the weekend the book has hit #2 and #5 (ahead of Ellen DeGeneres latest book!) in the Amazon Bestseller lists in the Metaphysical and Motivational categories.  

 

Until next time!

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com

BEYOND THE DARK NIGHT

 Beyond The Dark Night Of The Soul Oil on linen 100 x 100 cm 2009

 

 

I deliberately put the word beyond in the title of Beyond The Dark Night Of The Soul [above] to indicate that even though a journey into the 'dark night of the soul' is something most people will experience, at some stage in their lives, there is a place beyond the suffering. I am fully aware that for some people, as if tortured on a Catherine Wheel, the 'dark night' persists or returns consistently. This must be dreadful. However, I know that the vicious cycle can be broken and that a place beyond is possible to find. As I said in my previous post about this painting, The word 'beyond' in the title clearly gives the message that this painting is not just a warm and fuzzy, feel-good image, because 'the dark night of the soul' as something that has been experienced but overcome, thus exists in absentia.

So, to the title of this post Beyond The Dark Night. By suggesting a beyond, suffering has not been simply ignored or avoided, thus left nagging incessently in the background like a small child wanting attention or a Catherine Wheel audibly creeking. It has been experienced and acknowledged leaving a trace, a memory. However, I like to think that a word like beyond means that the tumultuous tenticles of suffering cannot reach into the psyche dragging dreams, hopes, esteem and more back into that dark, dark place. No, suffering has not been alleviated, but its strength to hold on tightly, is diminished.

I have uploaded some more paintings where the dark night and suffering spoke or whispered to me. But I like to think I went beyond the grip of wallowing, sympathy seeking and fear. I must add here, that the dark night and suffering were not the only 'voices' in conversation with me! Maybe a place of beyond enables one to reach back voluntarily, to harvest wisdom, re-affirm intuition. The place beyond  is where hope exists... and hope is galvanising and political. A place beyond, out of the darkness, means one have the potential to 'see' with eyeball and pupil, as well as the mind's eye, all close and far distances, horizons and perspectives. There is a pathos in this all-seeing ability, which keeps us human, not strangled.

Hope In The Distance Oil on linen 80 x 120 2010

 Halo Oil on linen 82 x 183 2009

 

I have included Halo because whilst it rejoices in the beauty of planet Earth and its atmospheric halo, the painting 'came' to me when I was thinking about my cousin Bill [aka: Fred] From who died whilst descending Mt Everest in a blizzard. This happened 9 October 1984. He turned 28 that month.What is interesting is that I was compelled to paint Halo in October 2009. I had not realised it was the 25th anniversary of Bill's death until I googled to see if there was much about the expedition, lead by Sir Edmund Hillary's son, Peter Hillary.

 

Bill had just completed his PhD in Ionospheric Physics and had won a scholarship to one of the Max Planck Institutes in Germany.

 

 

Blood Connection Oil on linen 80 x 140 cm 2010

Blood Connection ,using my much loved age-old transcultural/religious tree-of-life symbol, is a painting reminding us that during war, blood literally seeps into the earth. It has done so for eons... unfortunately. Upon burial or casting ashes, the body-our bodies- return to the Earth connecting us forever, returning us to the stars.

 

Planet $ [below] is another 'map' like painting, similar to Blood Connection. I have, however, painted the planet with small $ signs. This painting, I believe, puts into perspective the quantification and commoditisation of resources, an incessently global activity. It also speaks of the suffering wrought by the Global Financial Crisis. This suffering is reaching out to us from 2007/8, keeping us tethered to fear. In my previous post for Planet $ I wrote, So, the painting of our planet, which I am calling '$', has a few underlying themes. The obvious one is the plundering of resources to feed our insatiable desire/need for energy, and all the paraphenalia that is manifested as a result. The other is more subtle. It is the restriction of imagination in ways which we do not notice, via the media, education and technology. The frightening thing is that all three are entwined.

 

Imagination can untether us from fear. We need to stir and utilise our imaginations, releasing the grip cast by media and its constant reminder of suffering, its pithiness and gossip seeking tendencies. It could be seen as a battle between imagination and the monsters created by those without. As I wrote in my previous post, I am reminded of JK Rowling's [author of the best-selling Harry Potter book series] excellent Commencement Address, “The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination,” at the Annual Meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association, when she said, ' I think the wilfully unimaginative see more monsters. They are often more afraid.' http://harvardmagazine.com/2008/06/the-fringe-benefits-failure-the-importance-imagination

 

I believe imagination provides the light to places beyond. Please see Becoming The Light, below Planet $

 

 Planet $ Oil on linen 30 x 30 cm 2011

 

 Becoming The Light Oil on linen 160 x 120 cm 2011

 

 

 

 

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com