A newer painting, this one an image of about 18″ by 26″ on paper. The composition is intentionally simple in that this piece is obviously very much centered on its color and texture. The stringlike twirls of its texture create a real feel of motion and energy underneath the image, the hint of the hidden forces of nature that exist just beyond our ability to recognize or comprehend them. I don’t know if I would call these purely physical forces or if they somehow become a spiritual force as well. For this painting, let’s assume that they are both.
I see the Red Tree here as being enmeshed in both the visible world and in the world of these hidden forces. While trying to find a way of describing this energy, these hidden forces of life, I came across the writings of Sri Aurobindo, anIndian philosopher/yogi who was very influential in the the first part of the last century. Some of his writings describe the spiritual evolution of man into what he called the Supramental Being. Here is how it is described in Wikipedia:
Sri Aurobindo’s vision of the future includes the appearance of what may be called a new species, the supramental being, a divine being which would be as different and superior to present humanity as humanity is to the animal. It would have a consciousness different in kind than the mind of the human, a different status and quality and functioning. Even the physical form of this being would be different, more luminous and flexible and adaptable, entirely conscious and harmonious. Between this supramental being and humanity, there would be transitional beings, who would be human in birth and form, but whose consciousness would approach that of the supramental being. These transitional beings would appear prior to that of the full supramental being, and would constitute an intermediate stage in the Earth’s evolution, through which the soul would pass in its growth towards its divine manifestation as the supramental being in the earth nature.
It is an interesting concept and one that I feel fits the imagery of this painting. However, I did think about how the concept was similar in nature to Nietzsche’s Superman or Ubermensch and the use of that idea by the Nazis, how it could easily be diverted from its original meaning and twisted to rationalize behaviors far from the true nature of the concept. It’s unfortunate that many ideas that are concerned with the betterment of all people are often perversely used to divide and destroy people. Here, I am thinking of this concept in the purest sense, of the elevation of the individual to a higher state of being, aware of and in harmony with all the forces of this world.
Or it’s just a tree blown by the wind…
Redtree Times 