VULCAN
VULCAN is a profound meditation on transformation, resilience, and the indomitable human spirit, wherein the elemental power of the volcano interlaces with the mythological archetype of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire. Through a vivid tapestry of images, symbols, and metaphors, the artist invites viewers to contemplate the alchemy of trials: how it forges, shatters, and, in propitious instances, rebirths us. The exhibition delves into the courage essential for navigating life's glowing uncertainties, carving a path atop unstable ground, and emerging not merely unscathed but metamorphosed. Ascendant, ever higher, piercing new strata of clouds.
In essence, VULCAN unveils the dual nature of the Hero's Journey, whether freely undertaken or imposed by fate. The departure, whether voluntary or compelled, carries the weight the burden of abandoning the familiar, reappraising the past in pursuit of a more certain future. Like Vulcan, who was exiled yet triumphs through mastery of craft, the artist reflects on their own odyssey: exile, escape, return: paved with personal struggles, adventures of hard-won self-discovery.
The Vulcan series renders abstract geological cross-sections of the volcano, within which past, present, and future coalesce simultaneously. A powerful metaphor: the ever present potential for destruction and creation. With only the clear sky to afford perspective, the invigorating air beneath the sun, where molten chaos crystallizes into fertile soil and eternal stone.
Post-eruption, the Quiescence series juxtaposes the effortless transformative cooling process with the human condition, illuminating the arduous efforts required to meet one’s true volition.
VULCAN evokes the rhythms of motion and stillness, eruption and dormancy, destruction and rebirth. The artist hints the presence of a fortress enthroned on the volcano's slopes. A defiant stronghold, unreasonable for an enemy to attempt its capture. Here we abide. Enfolded by the three walls of the gallery adorned with mosaic painting constellations. This fortress, like certain immutable laws in nature and society, resurges after devastation, unassailable against the caprices of conquerors or the inexorable passage of time. The volcano itself remains indifferent, a silent witness to human endeavors - just as we discern in Lord Byron’s poem, Darkness. Irrational panic and mindless violence erupt from uncertain times; it seems the only sanctuary is peril others dare not approach.
Of the volcanos, and their mountain-torch:
A fearful hope was all the world contain'd;"
Abstract portraits emerge from the maelstrom. A purple gaze at the stars. A self-portrait, undecided. Is it dissipating? Or merely a suspended state of mind awaiting completion. A woman's glance askance. With discrete imperfections, a disconnected constellation.
Through VULCAN, the artist calls upon viewers to confront the paradox of existence on marshy terrain, to face the fire of trials, and to embrace the cycles of destruction and creation. This exhibition is a paean to the Hero's Journey—whether chosen or compelled—and a contemplation on the interplay of danger and vitality, isolation and community, stillness and eruption.
