Title: The Four Stages. 1=Seed. 2=Consciousness or Sprite. 3=The Turtle as Mid-life. 4=Endless Transcendences
Medium Mixed: Oil paint over Acrylic on white pain and Metal leaf
Size: H-17½ x L-12½ x W-1½
Year: 2021
Historically Retablos were hand crafted objects, made as expressions of gratitude or as petitions to saints for protection or healing. In accordance with Apostolic tradition Retablos were made from found objects and modified to represent a meaningful spiritual event. The practice of devotion to Catholic saints was incorporated into indigenous cultures of the Americas during the centuries of Spanish colonization.
The Retablos in this venue are part of a larger series of difficult work. They serve as a statement about the chaotic nature of our contemporary culture. My working objective was to selectively repurpose discarded jewelry and pieces of computer hardware in order to establish a parallel between discarded technology and the abandonment of Judeo-Christian ethics and iconography. The premise, to create genuine works of art that extends the conversation about the nature and value of beauty and iconography.
FINAL RETABLO SERIES # 36 – A
Title = The Four Stages. 1=Seed or Breath, 2=Sprite. 3= The Turtle as Mid-life. 4= Endless Transcendences
A detailed of the four medallions on the lower 1/3 of the painted assemblage. I started working on the content or idea for the piece in late December of 2018. The reality is that it’s taken about two and half years to work out or eliminate all nonessential pictorial metaphor. The artwork it-self is about our elemental world “above and below.” The iconic form of “a cross” is universally bound to our collective psyche because it reflects the most valuable and primal structures of our metaphysical and cosmological tendencies. The Retablos are more than purely optical design because they are rooted in history, grounded in a visual bedrock of implied assumptions about the nature of culture, reality and Being. Retablos are the embodiment of our collective divinity, our collected transcendence our sense of what is truth and beyond our understanding.
FINAL RETABLO SERIES # 36 – B First medallion
Title = 1=Seed
The visual content or imagery of the first medallion depicts a human form receiving three miracles, life, fire and language. The main content is one in which the seed is worked into Being, The soul is freed, nourished and becomes a manifestation of the divine. From birth till the age of pubescence the ideal human progression is one of reason and utility. The young human learns the value of rejecting childish behaviors, learns to initiate self control and the rewards of holding back on selfish gratification. Idealistic the young human works diligently to understand that expediency must not take the place of truth and sacrifice.
The first medallion represent a young human seated with one leg up as if to stand or walk. The head is cast down towards earth and one arm is raised up and holding a stick that marks the passing of time. The symbol above the right foot represent sound or language. The marks at the left side of the medallion represent fire or heat. The location of the two symbols representing fire indicate that the young human is skilled in its application and will be granted rights of passage.
FINAL RETABLO SERIES # 36 – C Second medallion
Title = 2=Consciousness or Sprite
The visual elements of the second medallion represent a middle-age human seated. From pubescence till the age of twenty-five or thirty the ideal human progression is one reason and utility. With opened eyes, head titled upward towards the cosmic heavens and both arms raised the human is in the act of petitioning the deity . The left arm bound by gravity holds up the sky as a manifestation of all that is true and good. Under the left pawn are the symbols that signify mastery over elemental phenomena. The right hand in the processes of extending upward is over following with sacrificial offerings of milk and blood. The over all content is one of self-awaking where the terrifying responsibility of formulating systems of moral hierarchy or beliefs for coexistence are put to the test. The Human is forced to ask what is god? What is love? What is Justice? corruption , subjugation, revenge and most important what is self.
The questions asked are an embodying of commitment, utility and function. Humans long to be whole, long to make there way in the world and pursue a life that is worth living.
FINAL RETABLO SERIES # 36 – D Third medallion
Title = 3=The Turtle as Mid-life
The third coin or medallion is a stylized portrayal of a turtle. A primordial creature with an archetypal personification of time, place, wisdom, resiliency. and immense animal spirit. Within many ancient creatures the stylized form of a turtle is an embodiment of a supernatural being or deity . Its reptilian body is unique among vertebrates because its shell provides protection and shelters it from the elements.
The title of the medallion indicates that from the age of thirty-five to sixtyish the ideal human progression is multi-disciplinary and one of raw consequence. The endearing image of the turtle as human avatar is based on its aquatic capability. With some variability on symmetry, half of its life span is lived in water and half on land. Much like the human at mid-life, half is gone. The three circles on the back of turtle shell represent a celestial symbol for the interconnectedness of all four stages of life.
FINAL RETABLO SERIES # 36 – E Fourth medallion
Title = 4=Endless Transcendences
The fourth coin or medallion is a psychological portrayal of the event that awaits all humans at the end of life. The three hounds are a stylized manifestation of all manner of abnormality disease, famine, war, xenophobia, old age and plain old stupidity. For some human’s the fourth medallion represents an appalling event of evil, terror, horror and anxiety. For others the complexity surrounding old age or death is not about conflict but rather a kind of ideological acceptances of knowledge and beliefs.
The visual aspects of the three hounds implies the inevitability of our mortality. The beasts in their orgiastic enthusiasm devour all flash of the deceased which is then discharge from their bodies to form the foundation of the eternal cosmos. The goal is spiritual perfection or the ideal of balance, restoration and harmony, pleasure and pain.
