Viriditas

This portfolio brings together many new pieces of artwork with a few that are older. I’ve chosen these to come together because they were all created to communicate “something” that I recently discovered had a name: VIRIDITAS.

In April of 2012 I came across an article that stated Pope Benedict had recently canonized a 12th Century nun by the name of Hildegard Of Bingen. The article said that Hildegard was a 12th Century feminist who gave counsel to many powerful men: Pope Eugene III, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Archbishop Henry of Mainz, and Emperor Frederic Barbarossa, to name a few. She also composed soaringly beautiful music, wrote books, painted paintings, and had a unique understanding of nature. Hildegard Of Bingen used the word VIRIDITAS to communicate the strong “greening power” she recognized in the nature of the cosmos. I was intrigued so I bought 3 of her books and started to read more about this fascinating woman and VIRIDITAS. I soon realized that in the 12th Century, Hildegard Of Bingen was communicating in words and music something very similar to what I feel the need to communicate in my artwork. It has to do with “connection”. I will use this quote from Kim Stanley Robinson’s “Mars Trilogy” to help describe what I mean:

“Look at the pattern this seashell makes. The dappled whorl, curving inward to infinity. That’s the shape of the universe itself. There’s a constant pressure, pushing toward pattern. A tendency in matter to evolve into ever more complex forms. It’s a kind of pattern gravity, a holy greening power we call VIRIDITAS, and it is the driving force in the cosmos. Life, you see.”

The artwork in this portfolio visually displays my personal perception of this “greening power” Hildegard Of Bingen called VIRIDITAS. For me it is a sense of spiritual connection with the life giving force of this universe. In keeping with much of my artwork, it was created to honor all the living things that exist in every aspect of creation and to represent a sense of life with no limitations of space and time, a sharing of spirit, mind and heart, a spiritual recognition and belonging, a joining in an ancient and eternal way.