Cave

Cave, 5.5"h x 6.125"w x 4.75"d

gourd, coal, plastic, steel, steel wire, gouache, acrylic paint, archival board, wood, glass

Caves are hidden realms, having their own extreme geology and often their own unique biota. Some caves can even be considered living as they grow by the action of bacteria on their rocks. The bacteria dissolves the stone, and thus enlarges the space. As the place where precious stones and ores are found, and strange, frightening-looking animals dwell, the cave became the secret place of treasure, often guarded by a monster, spirit or nymph. Another precious commodity, water, is often traced back to the cave which is seen as the source of a river or spring.

Life-giving water and the possibility of wealth, versus dangerous conditions and darkness is the dichotomy of cave symbolism. The cave is both generative and a place of death. It is the womb of the earth and the entrance to the underworld. With the generative qualities of the womb, the cave is where the god Zeus was nurtured to keep his survival secret from his father Kronos. In this depiction, the cave becomes not only the nurturing womb, but also the secret place that keeps even the gods from seeing in. It may have been the notion of the earth womb that inspired prehistoric men to travel deep into caves to paint the animals they hunted on the walls, either to ensure an unending supply of food, or out of an understanding and respect of the powerful fecund forces of the animals themselves.

Viewed as entrances to the underworld, the cave takes on the negative aspects of death and dying. It is easy to become lost in a cave with its twisting route and total darkness. Thus, with the fear of a cave’s real ability to swallow up the soul into the bowels of the earth, it becomes viewed as the place where we go after death. No wonder Dante described the entrance to Hell as a cave with a message to abandon all hope.

In my construction, Cave, I envision both the womb and the underworld. The two forces are a balance of powers. There can be no birth without death. The cycle perpetuates.

Cave was part of the exhibition Nyktomorph at Curious Matter, 
September 20 - October 18, 2009

Nyktomorph

I am participating in the group exhibition Nyktomorph at Curious Matter. It runs September 20 - October 18, 2009.  The following artists are also showing work:

Carrie-Ann Bracco
Arthur Bruso
Suzan Courtney
Peter H. Everett
Edward Fausty
Conor Fields
Jimmy Fike
Richard Haymes
Ricardo Hernandez
Mary Hill
Kay Kenny
Yvonne Piner Kleiman
Ross Bennett Lewis
Luis Locarno
Joan Mellon
Raymond E. Mingst
Christopher Moss
Brian Oakes
Franc Palaia
R. Wayne Parsons
Olivié Ponce
Owen Rundquist
Stacy Seiler
Cedric Yhuel


Here is the first paragraph of the catalog essay.

And now, as the night was senescent, 
And star-dials pointed to morn– 
As the star-dials hinted of morn– 
At the end of our path a liquescent 
And nebulous lustre was born, 
Out of which a miraculous crescent 
Arose with a duplicate horn– 
Astarte’s bediamonded crescent 
Distinct with its duplicate horn. 
excerpt from “Ulalame” by Edgar Allen Poe, 1847

From out of the nebulous light, at the end of a path, Edgar Allen Poe describes the appearance of the goddess Astarte. Here, she is an imagined figure of the night, or what’s called a nyktomorph. In darkness, when forms blend into one another and color is suppressed, our minds can create entire fantasies out of the shadows we encounter. Our inclination is to evoke something to make sense of what we can’t clearly see. But this impulse isn’t merely intellectual, the enveloping mystery of the twilight adds an emotional dimension—often fear and wonder—which lends these conjured figures and scenes a fantastical quality.


To read the rest of the essay, please go to the Curious Matter site. The catalog is available from Lulu.com.