"The Eternal Formation"
4ft. x 5ft. Oil on Canvas, 2012 



This piece represents an Alchemical ritual inspired by early Hermetic philosophy.  In this piece can be seen the splitting of matter into four elements and the trifold nature or trinity of the archetypal nature of the cosmos. 



The two males figures represent the duality in material nature- on the left is the sun figure whom is seen in front of a setting sun.  This figure also represents fire and air, symbolized by the candle as well as red robe; air by the light blue drape. 



The figure on the right symbolizes the moon, who is on the side of the sky that is entering twilight as the moon is ascending.  The right figure also represents water and earth as symbolized in the jug of dark water and the bag of twigs as well as the green robe he wears. 



The central figure represents the cosmic mother goddess and pure spirit before it descends into matter.  In medieval belief the band of the milky way was the source from which spirits entered the souls of men.  The central figure is shown with a dark blue robe symbolizing the spiritual abyss, band of the milky way and night sky from which material existence has sprung.  She also has a small yellow drape representing the sun. These drapes  show that duality has originated from her and that the material duality represented in human form below are merely the cloth covering pure spirit (the female figure).



The golden container in front of the left man is a representation of the sun as shown by the golden ball on the top of the lid and it also has eight emeralds on the lid (the eighth is hidden behind the sun)- this references the 8th card of the tarot which has a lion on it and represents the sun. 



The green object in the center is a representation of the earth.  The lines around the object are a reference to the axial alignment of our earth to the center of the milky way galaxy as well as the solar plane.  The figure is shaped as a taurus, a shape that echoes the properties of recycling and rebirth, evidenced by imagining a point starting in the center of the object then following a straight trajectory on the  curvature- the point will start from the center and transfer to the outer surface, then make a trip back to the central point again in a cyclical fashion.

Throughout the composition can be seen different colored feathers.  These simply go in order from the left to right and represent the five stages of spiritual alchemy which are represented by the crow, swan, peacock, pelican, and phoenix.

Throughout the background, hidden within the shrubs, are 18 hidden symbols.