Showing posts with label age of aquarius. Show all posts
Showing posts with label age of aquarius. Show all posts

Thursday, April 9, 2009

about "The Waterman"

(funny to have finished my depiction of Jesus Christ so close to Easter. I swear it was not on purpose. but the muses sometimes like coincidences. or, if you prefer, synchronicities.)

well, it's finally done, the first part of my most ambitious project so far. it's the middle panel of The Waterman triptych, called Unio Mystica. it is a work full of symbolism and it's impossible to unfold each one of them here, since each symbol leads to a myriad of things, either Bible passages or occult teachings. (anyway, long time ago a person I met told me that the Bible is the greatest occult book in the world. as the years passed and as I advanced in my studies on astrology, tarot and symbols, I was forced to recognize he was totally correct. and my amazement about how all the things are so creatively and intelligently intertwined in this world just grows. with all my respect for the non-believers, with all this harmony I see and perceive I just can't believe there is no Creator!)

The Waterman is about the Age of Aquarius and how the words of the Christ will reveal themselves in all their purity and brightness. the main piece (Unio Mystica) is the macrocosm, in the figure of the Christ, while the surrounding ones are the microcosm, in the form of the Four Elements. when I was brainstorming this piece, I was lead in my research to this page and got in awe to see a picture of a waterman along with symbols of spirituality and transformation. both the picture and the page were what I call a gift from the Universe and provided me with the directions my work should take. all fit perfectly to my concept and initial ideas.

the central figure of the panel/triptych is a naked man carrying a vase of water. he exudes freedom and strength. on his body we see the main chakras lightened and tied, since the base of the spine to the the crown of the head, where it shows like a big multicolored flower. this is the perfect man, the man that was able to rise his kundalini and work his creative/divine potential to its fullest and becoming God. this man is the Christ, the highest model humankind can aspire. the enlightened spirit that incarnated in a dense, material body just like ours to make us learn that we are gods and that all those things he'd done, we could also do. in his hand he brings a rose instead of blood and wounds, to remind us that it's our existence in the flesh, with all its pains and struggles, that make us bloom as spirits.

he pours water over two figures at the bottom, that bathe in it in attitude of deliverance and communion. The water is an universal symbol of spirituality and rebirth. "In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. " (Acts 2:17) That is the big spiritual quest humankind will confront when all the dogmatic forms of beliefs start being crumbed by progressive philosophies and scientific discoveries. then the words of Jesus will come through with new strength and understood "without the veil of the letter."

two details were painted without I being consciously aware of. one were the flames that appear on the figures foreheads, that remind the "tongues of fire" that came upon the apostles in the day of Pentecost. another detail is a little more "visionary": the "ribbons" that come down from the rose in a spiral that is very similar to the model of a human DNA. a fresh insight I just had is that, since our incarnations mold our DNA, who knows this will be one the huge scientific discoveries for the next decades that will lead us to the understanding of the immortality of the soul... and that the Master was right when he said "No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again" (John 3:3)

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

the Divine is naked.

now I guess I can show the very beginning of my new creative effort, a project I've been cherished for a while, and that I decided to call The Waterman.

The Waterman

The Waterman


I told my husband the other night: "I want to paint Jesus naked." he just responded, after some of his characteristic little jokes, "just go ahead, my dear. you have my support."

I had confessed him that I had some apprehensions about it. not really religious ones, since I am not a Christian and I do not worship deities, but I am a total admirer of Jesus Christ. this man is my life role model, the example I try to keep in my mind and heart every minute. although to me he is not God himself, but some kind of older brother and master, he is a sacred symbol for many. my fear was to create controversies about putting a sacred symbol naked, and I don't want to offend anybody. but then I thought, "hey, wait a minute... this is art, and art is not supposed to follow rules. and since I'm the artist and I'm supposed to express my thoughts, I think that there's nothing offensive in naked bodies. naked is beautiful and my Jesus will be beautiful and yes, he will be naked."

in my work, Jesus is the waterman. my starting point to this concept is Luke 22:10, that says "a man will meet you carrying an earthen pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he goes in." that was a kind of announcement of the age of Aquarius. I then saw Jesus as the own man with the pitcher of water. he was not just the avatar of the Pisces era, for his message is universal and it will stay forever. and in the age of Aquarius it will be finally understood and followed in its purity, without "the veil of the letter".

that's the meaning of the nakedness of Jesus: the purity and truth of his message. nothing more to hide or being corrupted by men in their political interests, no more manipulative interpretations. just the truth, as it is. naked.

talking to my good friend Marcelo Peregrino later on the msn, I told him about my project and fears. Marcelo is a big fan of Jesus as much as I am, then I knew he would understand me. he responded me with a song by Gilberto Gil, a famous Brazilian musician (please forgive the rough translation):

If I want to talk to God,
I have to be alone,
I have to turn off the light,
I have to silence my voice.
(...)
I have to have my hands empty,
to have body and soul naked.

and then, my friend said, "the Divine is naked."

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails