The Ab Uno

"One becomes two, two becomes three, and out of the third comes the one as the fourth" -Maria Prophetissa


Ab Uno, which can be translated as "from one", is the name for the alchemical symbol that represents gold. This symbol, which is essentially a circle with a dot in the center, invokes within me a conflict that I find to be extremely poignant and that has become a central theme in these paintings. The circle is a motif that is often used to represent a sacred loop of connectedness and the unremitting cycle of life; not only can it be seen in the iconography of countless mythological models, but we also experience it in the cyclical nature of the changing seasons and in the earth's axial rotation that results in night and day. The conflict arises when I try to place myself within that great circle. I can of course rationalize how I might fit in; how on a molecular level boundaries between what is "I" or "other" become vague and nondescript, but my experience is more that of the dot in the center of the circle. I can see the circle around me, but I am only the observer of that loop, once the idea of "self” is acknowledged a dichotomy between self and non-self immediately arises and proliferates into myriad shades of difference.

Pharmakon

2007

Oil on Panel

22 x 35 in

The Undifferentiated State

2007

Oil on Panel

22 x 27 in

And From the Third Comes the One

2007

Oil on Panel

22 x 18 in

Out of the Garden

2007

Oil on Panel

22 x 17 in

A Circle in a Straight Line

2007

Oil on Panel

22 x 34 in

The Birth of Fear and Desire

2007

Oil on Panel

22 x 32

Apprehension

2007

Oil on Panel

22 x 41

Sublimation

2007

Oil on Panel

22 x 36 in

Ab Uno

2007

Oil on Panel

22 x 22 in

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