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The Ethereal Battle - Animated "Flythrough" of an envisioned painting project.
"The Ethereal Battle"
by David Normal
Introduction:
The Ethereal Battle is a cosmological fantasy consisting of twenty
paintings that depict the cyclic destruction and creation of the world.
The premise of the Ethereal Battle envisions the aftermath of an all-pervading
catastrophe in which humanity perishes - "the end of the world"
- so to speak. The cause of this catastrophe is not important since
the aftermath itself is the subject of the work. The Ethereal Battle
supposes for its drama that such a cataclysm results in an epic spiritual
event wherein all souls are simultaneously released from the constraints
of physical mortality. All at once the mass of dead souls swarm into
the intermediate realm between life and death - the "ether".
The ether becomes a battleground wherein humanity's conflicting beliefs,
fears, and hopes vie with one another to determine the future. It
is a battle that engages realms of consciousness and cosmic forces.
Through this conflict new worlds are born. "The Ethereal Battle"
is an allegory of the death and reincarnation of the collective psyche,
the anima mundi, the soul of the world.
While this may be abstract to describe, it nonetheless results in
a series of fantastical paintings that draw upon mythical and esoteric
symbolism. The viewer is welcome to form his own conclusion regarding
the meaning of the work. Thought and study have gone into this design,
yet it is by no means didactic in nature.
The collection of paintings has a specific arrangement, a special
circular array (Fig. 1). This circular array is a geometric pattern
that has symbolic significance*. It is a pattern composed of interlocking
circles that represent metaphysical forces that are supposed to govern
the continuum of human existence through life and beyond into death.
The subject matter of the specific paintings depends on the placement
of the paintings within these cosmic circles. Fig. 1 shows specific
places for 32 paintings** as denoted by small golden circles that
are placed at intervals within the diagram. The overlay for Fig. 1
(Fig. 1a) shows notation of painting titles (and also demonstrates
rectilinear relations between the paintings).
Hence, the paintings exist within a conceptual framework that is also
the plan for their exhibition. The goal of the exhibit is to create
a space where the viewer may tangibly explore the interrelation between
these paintings. Importantly the paintings are of the size and aspect
of doorways, and indeed each painting is to be considered a representation
of a "doorway" to another world, or to another aspect of
the cosmos. The viewer could be considered a "wandering soul"
- one of the fatalities of the world's destruction - that is traversing
the cosmos looking through the gateways of worlds and also meeting
the visages of gods.
The "paintings" are actually digital paintings composed
on a computer using computer graphics software, and then printed onto
silk. Because these paintings are digital it may be more correct to
say that they are prints. Regardless of how these visual artworks
are created or classified, the result will be luminous images that
are similar in effect to stained glass and that may be viewed from
both sides.
*The array of Transcendence, Creation, Destruction, and Illusion corresponds
to Heaven, Paradise, Hell, and Purgatory. This in turn corresponds
to the afterworlds of Nirvana, Sorga, Neraka, and Maya that are a
part of Hindu cosmology.
* *Earlier the series was conceived as numbering 32 paintings. Currently
that number has been reduced to 20. I think that the point of the
piece can still be made adequately with a smaller number of paintings.
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