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The ALchemist Series Closeups
(Scroll down for images)
Preparing to
Greet the Goddess
Do not think of her
unless you are prepared
to be driven to your limits,
to rush forth from yourself
like a ritual bowl overflowing
with sacramental wine.
Do not summon her image
unless you are ready to be blinded,
to stand in the flash
of a center exploding,
yourself shattering into the landscape,
wavering bits of bark and water.
Do not speak her name
until you have said good-bye
to all your familiar trinkets --
your mirrors, your bracelets,
your childhood adorations --
From now on you are nothing,
a ghost sighing at the window,
a voice singing under water.
Dorothy Walters (1928- )
The
style of these pieces is inspired by early Armenian
manuscript illuminations. My paintings explore, as
all my work does, the source and nature of the creative
process.
The
materials I used here were of particular importance
because I was wrestling with how to find that nexus
where Divine creativity and the material world
meet. Thus I made most of the materials for these
painting by hand. I ground tree sap, stones, metals,
cooked plants and sorted earths. All the while I
was in a deep meditative state, seeking to become the
funnel for Divine creative energy to pour into the
physical matter of the art supplies I was creating. Thus, these pieces explore the alchemical idea that actions performed in the physical world have a corresponding reaction in the interior spiritual world. So as I transformed my materials, I trasformed and healed myself.
I
did not make the sheep skin parchment they are painted
on, but as I painted, I was acutely aware of the cycle
of life and death, rebirth and regeneration. I
understood that I was honoring the animal who died and
bringing a new form of life to its body. For more
on this check my forthcoming book Lapis
& Gold: Unlocking the secrets of Medieval
Illuminators.
Scroll down for all the images in the series.
The
Artist as Mother
Eden
The Artist 1
The
Artist 2
The Artist's
Hand
The Cycle
Woman
The Virgin
Birth
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