Tag Archives: art

The Magnificent Imperia of Constance

Posted on October 18, 2015 by Symbol Reader

She is splendid, imposing, imperial. 9 metres high, she slowly revolves round her axis, revealing all the facets of her provocative ensemble. In her left palm sits a naked minuscule pope, in her right – a minuscule naked emperor; both … Continue reading →

Posted in Imperia of Constance | Tagged archetypes, art, Constance, Council of Constance, goddess, Imperia, Jan Hus, Minoan snake goddess, Peter Lenk, Power, sculpture, symbolism, symbols | 21 Comments

Struggle for Love in a Dream

Posted on September 20, 2015 by Symbol Reader

Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (Poliphilo’s Strife of Love in a Dream or Poliphilo’s Struggle for Love in a Dream), more than just a book but rather a milestone in depth psychology, was published in Venice in 1499. It featured beautiful woodcut illustrations and … Continue reading →

Posted in Hypnerotomachia Poliphili | Tagged archetypes, art, Carl Gustav Jung, depth psychology, dream, dreamlike, Eros, Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, psyche, psychology, Renaissance, Soul, Strife of Love in a Dream, symbols | 10 Comments

Icy Lechery: Art by Tamara de Lempicka

Posted on September 12, 2015 by Symbol Reader

“Was it true that, according to her final wishes, the ashes of the Polish-Russian artist Tamara de Lempicka were dropped from a helicopter by her daughter Kizette into the crater of the Mexican volcano Popocatépetl? What an Olympian, cataclysmic, magnificent … Continue reading →

Posted in Painting, Quotations | Tagged archetypes, art, eroticism, nude, painting, sensuality, sex, symbolism, symbols, Tamara de Lempicka | 10 Comments

To Apollo: The Averter of Evil, the Bringer of Harmony (part 1)

Posted on August 23, 2015 by Symbol Reader

1.“I am the eye with which the Universe Beholds itself, and knows it is divine; All harmony of instrument or verse, All prophecy, all medicine, is mine, All light of art or nature; – to my song Victory and praise … Continue reading →

Posted in Apollo | Tagged Ancient Greece, Apollo, archetypes, art, bow, civilization, Daphne, Delos, depth psychology, Greek myth, Greek mythology, Homeric hymn to Apollo, Leto, lyre, muses, music, nymphs, paean, possession, sun god, symbolism, symbols, the Self, Zeus | 21 Comments

Wordless Moments of Being

Posted on June 9, 2015 by Symbol Reader

Throughout my life I have been a collector of memorable moments. If I decide I want to capture a certain moment, I stop in my tracks and tell myself to register the impression. I do not have an eidetic sense, … Continue reading →

Posted in Painting | Tagged art, Dasein, Faust, Goethe, Heidegger, painting, Peter Doig, while, wordless | 18 Comments

Drawing with Light: on Photography

Posted on May 16, 2015 by Symbol Reader

It is easy to romanticize the dawn of photography (literally “drawing with light”). I am not pretending I understand the technical intricacies of the entire process but I am drawn to the alchemical feel and terminology of the first photographic … Continue reading →

Posted in Photography | Tagged acheiropoietos, archetypes, art, Barthes, camera obscura, Charles Baudeleaire, daguerrotype, darkness, history of photography, image, light, narcissism, photography, shroud of Turin, Sontag, St Veronica, symbolism, symbols | 18 Comments

A Thunderous Epiphany: How Symbols Are Created

Posted on December 12, 2014 by Symbol Reader

“Symbols throw us across a spiritual abyss. When contemplating a sacred work of art, it may feel as if a great divide separated us from the Holy hidden in images. Then, our vision expands, and the image becomes transparent to … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations, The Symbol | Tagged archetypes, art, depth psychology, etymology, images, numinosum, numinous, sacred art, symbolism, symbols | 18 Comments

Awe-Inspiring Sculptures: “Night” by Michelangelo

Posted on November 8, 2014 by Symbol Reader

“Night” by Michelangelo was sculpted in white marble and put to rest on the tomb of Giuliano de Medici in San Lorenzo Church, Florence. Her attributes are an owl and a mask. I remember seeing the sculpture for the first time … Continue reading →

Posted in Sculpture, The Night | Tagged animus, art, Carl Gustav Jung, Chaos, Dark goddess, darkness, Greek myth, Greek mythology, love, Michelangelo, night, Nyx, sculpture, symbolism, symbols | 31 Comments

Esse Est Percipere (To Be Is to Perceive)

Posted on October 19, 2014 by Symbol Reader

1.“…he [William Blake] did everything he could to make his figures lose substance, to become transparent and indeterminate one from the other, to defy gravity, to be present but intangible, to glow without a definable surface, not to be reducible … Continue reading →

Posted in Painting | Tagged allegory, archetypes, art, esse est percipi, myth, painting, perception, symbolism, symbols, William Blake | 20 Comments

Passionate Longing for Dialogue (1): Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

Posted on October 7, 2014 by Symbol Reader

I am starting a new series on my blog which will consist of conversations regarding books, films and potentially other soulful topics of interest. I am calling the series “Passionate Longing for Dialogue,” which is a quote from Martin Buber’s … Continue reading →