Ex Nihilo (Ode to The Garden of Earthly Delights)
2020
A new visual narrative of mythical and supernatural realms are portrayed in Ex Nihilo (Ode to The Garden of Earthly Delights). These large scale works reference the idea of creation myth (also called cosmogonic myth), which is the philosophical and theological elaboration of the primal myth of creation within a religious community.
The myth of creation is the symbolic narrative of the beginning of the world as understood by a particular citizenry. Myths of creation refer to the process through which the world is centred and given a definite form within the whole of reality. They also serve as a basis for the orientation of human beings within the world. This centring and orientation specify humanity’s place in the universe and the regard that humans must have for other humans, nature, and the entire nonhuman world; they set the stylistic tone that tends to determine all other gestures, actions, and structures in the culture.
The literal translation of the phrase ex nihilo is "from nothing" but in many creation myths the line is blurred whether the creative act would be better classified as a creation ex nihilo or creation from chaos. In ex nihilo creation myths, the potential and the substance of creation springs from within the creator. In theology, the common phrase creatio ex nihilo, contrasts with creatio ex materia (creation out of some pre-existent, eternal matter) and creatio ex deo (creation out of the being of God).
Deplyoing image-editing software, multiple layers of digitally generated impressions are superimposed to create a definitive image, which are subsequently printed on wool. The process is then completed by hand-drawn motifs in wax pastels to further illustrate an atmospheric realm with elements of ethereal characterisations. Myth, through awe and wonder, allows our mind to embrace the realms of the possible, the undiscovered and the transcendent.
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As a side note: ‘The Garden of Earthly Delights’ is Hieronymus Bosch’s most complex and enigmatic creation, and the overall theme of The Garden of Earthly Delights is the fate of humanity, as in The Haywain. When the triptych's wings are closed, the design of the outer panels becomes visible. Rendered in a green–grey grisaille, these panels lack colour, possibly indicating that the painting reflects a time before the creation of the sun and moon, which were formed, according to Christian theology, to "give light to the earth". A visual resonance connects an earlier work, Beyond the Oecumene / Part XLI (2019) to the outer panels design.