PrimeMover (DOUM) Painting

It is rarely possible for the artist to understand and interpret any meaning embedded in his or her painting as the work develops. Images and thoughts are frequently brought to the surface without explanation either directly from our own sub-conscious or, more unusually, from our collective sub-conscious. Many paintings are expressions of emotions, of anger, of love and of peace, splashed across the canvas spontaneously. Some pictures appear as if by ‘magic’ from a deep and hidden subterranean layer within us. Other pictures appear as if by ‘magic’ from a source outside ourselves, a source which connects with the ‘sub-conscious of the cosmos’. In the latter example, the artist is no more than a lightening rod who facilitates the transfer of Knowledge from the metaphysical to the physical and when you stand before these special works you are exposed to their ‘glow of enlightenment’. The PrimeMover is one such picture.This is one reason why these rare and special paintings can command higher prices than other works on sale. (A fuller explanation is available in my book, The Nazareth Parallel.) It can take many months or even years to fully comprehend and explain a picture (if at all). In fact it may take the combined output of a whole series of works before the total picture becomes clear. Events have to happen, time has to pass before the clarity of hindsight can offer a true explanation. This process is happening now with a new work entitled Infinitus Spiritus which is expected to be completed in 2016. Hindsight suggests it is not an isolated piece but the third of a series which began with the painting, DOTU, The Diagram of the Universe (completed in 2012). In the description of DOTU, it is remarked that the painting ‘resembles the Islamic Square Kufic’ and although it had never been my intention to construct such a design, it evolved to mimic such a composition quite by chance. The painting, PrimeMover follows DOTU with a disc rather than a square yet it is very much an evolution of DOTU. With the luxury of the hindsight revealed by the current work, Infinitus Spiritus, it is now obvious that both DOTU and PrimeMover were the first paintings which expressed the desire to emulate the concept of the Indian religious symbol – the mandala. The mandala, a sanskrit word meaning ‘circle’, is generally accepted in many eastern philosophies as representing the universe both metaphysically and symbolically. In my work I see this concept enlarged to represent and include not only my Self but also Man’s collective unconscious. In this way I suggest the mandala unites the physical cosmos with Man’s common and collective Self in one whole. And it is the expression of this idea in my work which I refer to as ‘the glow of enlightenment’ above. In many of the religious traditions of India and the East, the mandala is seen both as a spiritual guide and an aid to meditation. It is therefore quite remarkable that I have arrived at exactly this same concept through my own work and in my own independent way unaware of the direction I was seeking. It is as if my work has been nudged to seek this end through some remote application seated deep within my collective subconscious – which makes the paintings all the more significant. Within them is embedded the something I had set out to find over thirty years ago – a sacred space. The title PrimeMover reveals something of the meaning behind this particular painting. Further evidence is supplied by the numbers embedded in the picture – for not only are they all prime they are also numbers found in the Fibonacci series. It does not mean this combination is special, it simply suggests the fundamental role Number plays as a force which drives existence – a force I call the gravity of mathematics. Essentially then the painting represents an image of a ‘mathematical generator’, an abstract entity which brings the physical world into being – a PrimeMover. The primary disc spreads therefore, not the Word (of god), but the Number (and mathematics) necessary to construct existence. Here Number flows from the centre in rivulets which fire up the photons and protons of the physical world. Once initiated the numbers must define themselves and in doing so define the physical world without which they could not be recognised. It is as if once released, the equations must be resolved for existence to be maintained. In the painting I suggest the disc represents the physical world of stars and planets set into an infinite and abstract background yet a background which is connected to the Whole. This painting was partly devised as a vehicle to accommodate a creed I had written for the BBC’s religious affairs programme, ‘Sunday’. A creed is a short religious text which summarises and encapsulates one’s belief in a few words and lines, an extremely difficult task given the mix of concepts revealed through my paintings over the years. In the PrimeMover, the creed text is arranged around the perimeter of the painting in two line sections beginning at the bottom left and continuing in a clockwise direction with the final two lines stretching across the base of the picture. This baseline demands the picture to be ‘read’ in this orientation. The idea of a ‘Primemover’ comes from the philosophy of Aristotle who argued that the world is in a constant state of change and that the prime mover was the cause of the initial movement which set off a chain of events. He recognised this mover as a metaphysical being or god which influenced the physical world through abstract and immaterial attraction.

Painting:Acrylic on Canvas

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:59.1 W x 59.1 H x 2 D in

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