This painting, Migration, is one of the more interesting conceptual exercises I’ve done in my career. The Ophanim hanging orbs in my pottery shop originated from my interest in the Platonic forms and the angelic hierarchy of Judaism. The ideas of “sacred geometry” have parallels to the cult of Mithraism which date back to a pre-Zoroastrian god worshipped in the region of Iran / Anatolia and was quite popular during the height of the Roman Empire. Hundreds of shrines to the Mithraic mysteries still exist in Europe where Roman armies had invaded and occupied.
Mithra/ Ra/ YHWH are all gods of the Sun or, “Son of God” and vied for cultural dominance, overlaying their stories on top of the existing stories. Being born in a stable, born to a virgin, having 12 disciples (the months of the year), dying and then resurrecting, are some of these shared story characteristics. The idea that the Sun is transported across the sky in a winged- and -eyed chariot was developed pre-Abrahamic theology, with an attending angelic hierarchy. Ophanim guard the throne of the deity and its most notable description is by the Judeo-Christian prophet, Ezekiel, and his fevered (some might say schizophrenic) vision of “wheels with eyes and wings”.
So, my fun idea for the image was to imagine if these creatures were real, what natural environment and niche might they inhabit? I viewed them as pelagic creatures roaming in aether, floating gas giants possibly on a hydrogen-rich planet. The “vegetation” in which they might feed, reproduce, and raise offspring might also be a pelagic species in which it’s not apparent if they have any kind of sessile (attachment) stage.
The floating scene produces a kind of disequlibrium— one isn’t sure if it’s upside-down or not. I relied on the light source to orient the viewer to planetary gravity; one’s primitive brain “knows” that light comes from a Sun-star and that one’s own planet exerts (some) gravity (in this Universe, anyway). Perhaps that’s why the smallest animals on Earth like the Planaria worm have eyespots on their dorsal (sun-ward) side and we have eyes that are sensitive to light as a primary perception. And, I tend to just really like eyes.
Have you ever cross-pollinated your media ideas this way? Share it with me in the comments.
Available as a print on ImageKind.
