Oil on Linen, 120x190cm, 2024

Within this painting I was inspired to depict the animate spirit of the air rising out the high rocks of alpine peaks and asiatic limestone formations. The picture plane invites the viewer to consider the animistic belief system that all objects, places, and creatures possess a distinct spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and in some cases words as being animated, having agency and free will. Barbēlō refers to the first emanation of creation in the Gnostic cosmogony. Barbēlō is often depicted as a supreme female principle, the single passive antecedent of creation in its manifold. This figure is also variously referred to as 'Mother-Father' (hinting at her apparent androgyny, 'The Triple Androgynous Name', or 'Eternal Aeon.