Symbols

Newly hanging in my studio from my Assisi Thin Places body of work...

Symbols

Mount Subasio, in Assisi, Italy, is said to be a sacred mountain.  On Mount Subasio there is a cave where St. Francis would go to pray and contemplate.  It is called Eremo delle Carceri (Hermitage of St. Francis). 

The whole area near the cave is rich with symbols, from the frescos in the oratory leading to the cave, to sculptures in the hillside, to a variety of crosses, including humble, rough hewn crosses embedded in nature.

I like the mystery of symbols and visual metaphors.  I was especially drawn to the more natural, subtle symbols. I phototransfered two images onto a wood panel.  One image is of an outdoor chapel just down the trail from the cave.  It had an old tree stump with a small cross carved into it and a twig that also looked like a cross.  I fused that image with one of the door that opens to the oratory and cave.  Together they seemed to portray a beauty in subtlety.

Size: (h x w) 24" x 16:
Media: Phototransfer on wood panel (maple)
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Salvation

St. Francis used to withdraw from others to pray and contemplate in a cave on Mount Subasio, in Assisi, Italy. The cave is now incorporated into a hermitage called the Eremo delle Carceri.  

When I went to visit St. Francis’ cave, which is the main attraction, I was surprised to be so moved by the Oratory of St. Bernadine.  This intimate space set aside for prayer is located on the way to St. Francis' cave.  It was constructed in the 15th century and one of my guidebooks only briefly noted that it had one of “a few worn frescoes.”  Yet this oratory, with its beautiful "worn fresco", was a very thin place for me. 

(A thin place being a place where it feels like the divide between the Divine and human is mysteriously thinner).

I combined the image of the oratory fresco of the crucifixion with an image of a double door that lead into a small mausoleum in the cemetery in Assisi.  In the middle of the doors two halves of a crown of thorns come together.  A brown string held the doors together and yet there was still a small gap in between, offering a sense of accessibility.  

This piece is part of the Thin Places body of work that I created after an artist residency in Assisi, Italy last year. 

Size: (h x w) 16" x 16"

Media: Original digital photography on aluminum

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Distance

The background image of this piece was taken on top of Mount Subasio in Assisi, Italy.  This mountain, where Saint Francis used to retreat to a cave to pray, is considered by locals as sacred. One pamphlet notes that Mount Subasio has been shaped by “the religious paths that have been moulding these landscapes for centuries...”  It seemed like a good explanation of this thin place.

I layered an image of an arched doorway (from the hilltop fortress Rocca Maggiore) over the photo from Mount Subasio.  I wanted to offer a glimpse of this landscape that has been moulded into a beautiful thin place.

This piece is part of my Thin Places body of work created as a result of an artist residency in Assisi, Italy.

Size: (h x w) 30" x 20"

Media: original digital photography on canvas

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