Art, Meaning, and Symbolic Communication
If you haven’t read my previous letter on power as a theme in my painting “Ceremony” you can do so here. It provides a meaningful context for the following.
“Ceremony”
Oil on Herringbone Linen
27 x 41 inches, 2023
Dear Friends,
Meaning is a funny thing.
“What does that mean?” We often say.
“What does it mean to you?” Might be the more appropriate question.
Symbols are all about communication.
From one level of consciousness to another.
When we attempt to read something as a symbol we are tasked with using the creative flexibility of our mind to perceive what appears on the surface in a different way.
Symbols communicate through their essence: their deeper fundamental qualities.
As in a dream, a sequence of symbols is a combination of essential qualities that reveal answers or insights not readily available on the surface of consciousness.
The benefit of communicating in this way, as opposed to linear, logical, verbal communication is that meaning can be communicated in an instant.
It can be understood forward and backward, up and down. It is a holistic impression.
One visual flash may be enough for a whole universe of deeper meaning to shine through. Much like when we wake up in the morning with only a fragment of a dream still lingering in our mind.
That is one of the things that excites me about artistic expression.
As artists we get to fill our creations to the brim with emotion and meaning.
If we do a good enough job, the personal nature of our work can be transcended.
We have the possibility of touching something that is deeper than our personal perspective.
We may feel that in our devotional act of creativity we get a glimpse into the infinite.
That somehow, in our artistic striving to craft a worthy vessel, archetypal forms find a doorway into the physical world through our creations.
We create windows where that light can shine more clearly and distinctly.
That may sound very lofty and abstract, but for an artist, it is the calling in our soul.
As an artist I want my paintings to be more than just ‘like’ the things that they represent. I want them to ‘become’ the things that they represent.
That being said, I would love to share with you a few of the symbols I chose in my new painting “Ceremony” and what they mean to me.
Fire
Fire is the essence of life: heat and light, energy.
Fire can create and it can destroy. It transforms and purifies.
All of the elements are mysterious and beautiful. But fire captivates our attention because it is the element that makes dense things into subtle things. It rarifies and releases. It brings clarity: light where there is darkness.
It is a key to the theme of power in the painting.
The main character casts part of himself into the fire. What is it that needs to be released? What limiting beliefs need to be burned away for him to make contact with his ideals?
Wolf
The wolf, the first image to appear in the rising smoke of the fire is a primal symbol.
In taoist philosophy, soul healing is achieved by incorporating the aggressive power of nature. The aggression of predatory animals is seen as the antidote to heaviness, negativity, self-pity, and inertia. The wolf howls, the raw power of nature echoes through him.
Crow
In some native traditions the crow is seen as an intermediary between the physical and spiritual worlds. They are said to be “inter-dimensional.” For me this ability to come and go, ascending and descending through the worlds is a symbol of freedom and mystery.
Crow reminds us that physical reality is just one focus of our consciousness. It is a temporary focus, and with proper training, we can shift our focus into other dimensions of experience.
Grandmother
The native elder at the top of the painting is a symbol of connection.
Connection to nature, to the earth herself, and to the moon.
She reminds us of a time when everything in nature was perceived as a conscious being with whom we could have a personal relationship.
She is the spirit of connection: the aliveness and intelligence of nature.
Full Moon
The moon is strongly connected to the movement of water, to our emotions, to the tides, to our subconscious. When the moon is at her peak during a full moon she reflects the maximum amount of solar energy into the darkness of the night.
We are a part of nature. We often forget that what is happening around us, is also happening within us.
When the moon is fully illuminated our subconscious is more accessible to us. Our dreams are stronger. We see more fully into the depths of our being, the light of the sun shining like a spotlight into the deeper dimensions of our consciousness.
Shaman
The person standing at the fire, with raised arm, feather in hand, is in some ways the main character. But he is small and indistinct. The main events of the painting are the spiritual forms he is seeing in the fire.
He is small, and they are large, because he recognizes that these energies he is engaging with will transform him. They may level him. They will show him his weaknesses. But being in relationship with them is his way of becoming strong. He willingly casts himself into the refiners fire. Humility is not an ideal, it is simply a quality he naturally cultivates through experience: a necessity if he wants to walk this path and remain in tact.
I’m curious. What do you see?
The best thing an artist can do, as I said, is create a window through which the transcendent can shine through to the observer.
But, regardless of the creator’s personal intent, art is ultimately a mirror through which we see ourselves.
I hope that by sharing my own personal symbolic references you’ll feel a new freedom to explore your own meaning, in this painting and in the artwork you choose to incorporate into your life.
Sincerely,
Dustin Neece