Alchemy Exhibition

New Instalation of : Elegy for An American Dream 

American Idol and the Ineluctable evolution of the Cosmic Temple Form

Installation

2021-2023

• American Dream Totem, Ceramic
• Altar/Hearth, Wood
• Chalk Drawing on Black Paper
• Jachin and Boaz Candle Holders, Ceramic
• Worn Braided Rug by Catherine Hawks (artist’s mother), Hand and machine sewn, braided cloth
• Dead tree branch

The installation is somewhat based on a dream I had at least 2 decades ago. It is an altar and a hearth with a totemic work incorporating the 4 seraphic beings, beings which surround the throne of God, also historically referred to as the 4 evangels representing Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John, and at the human level, the 4 temperaments, choleric, melancholic, phlegmatic, and sanguine, as well as a coyote, an American trickster being, standing in for Anubis, a spirit guide. This is flanked by 2 candle holders with candles, referencing the 2 columns/candles in Masonic Temples, Jachin, and Boaz. They are entwined by 2 monsters as described in Revelation rising from the land and water, representing the temptations of mind and body, the physical and the sensual, Lucifer and Ahriman (The Persian name for Satan). Written on the altar are the words “That Good May Become”, a quote from Rudolf Steiner’s Foundation Stone Meditation. There is a braided rug made by my mother in front of the altar, that personalizes the piece and reiterates the idea of hearth and home. Behind the piece is a large chalk drawing on black paper of a minimalist representation of an American gothic country church floating in the stars with the tunnel of light from near death experiences above and to the right.

It is, like all altars, indicative of a gateway to the spirit world. It is called an Elegy because it is meant to evoke an experience of great loss (but also potential) in the face of great temptations placed before America at the threshold of consciousness, in the wake of any unifying spirituality or culture, whether Indigenous, European, or otherwise. There is also intended, an echo of the Great Awakening of the late 19th century within the work, to include the acknowledgement of Earth’s sacrifice and a renewed reverence and consecration towards Earth and Cosmos.