Symbolism
The Inspiration of my work comes from the poem by William Wordsworth
Some of
the symbolic meanings Stefan includes in his paintings are:
- A light source represents the Divine.
- Squiggles are a fractal of the Divine that
is in everything that exists.
- Three cypress trees represent the Trinity.
Cypress trees also represent the gateway between life and death.
- A tree can represent a person with arms
reaching out to embrace the Divine and roots are the legs and feet that is
our connection to the Earth.
- Clouds can have various shapes or positioned
in ways to give many different meanings.
- Water is the transitional medium between
life and afterlife.
- Birds can represent souls. Their
direction and positions can have various meanings.
- A river or lake can be like the river Styx
in Greek Mythology. For more information please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Styx
.
- A boat can be much like Phlegyas, the
ferryman who transported souls between the two worlds of the Styx. For
more information please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phlegyas
.
- The swirl is an early Celtic and a
Native American symbol,
- Hills or mounded paths, that when walking to
the center, aids in preparation to be in the right state of mind to
communicate with the Divine.
- Sometimes faces and various different
objects may be seen in the trees and in the clouds, of which each has its
own meanings.
- While many of the symbols have specific
meanings to the artist, the viewer, based off their own experiences in life
so far, can interpret them differently.
Are Stefan’s paintings religious?
The
paintings act as special lenses to which to view the world. They reveal the
Divine and its powerful overtures in all that exists. The Divine in nature here
is the very Essence... The Living Spirit... before it is structured in any of
the many philosophical religious beliefs. The swirls and squiggles are
vibrations and music of all things alive, moving like the breeze.
Copyright 2006 by Stefan Duncan Gallery
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.