Images from opening reception of “Metamorphosis and the Living Forces in Nature”

“Metamorphosis and The Living Forces in Nature”

The two themes Metamorphosis and The Living Forces in Nature that led to the selection of art works for the grand opening show of Lightforms Art Center interrelate with one another. Metamorphosis occurs in nature when organisms undergo radical, or abrupt changes in the course of their development like the caterpillar turning into a butterfly. Less dramatic changes in nature take place in the meandering streams of water or in the sequential stages of leaf development on a plant from the first roundish seedling cotyledon leaves to the upper, strongly serrated leaves of the calyx holding the flower. These changes in morphology in nature can serve as an image for the dramatic inner changes that we as humans are capable of.

Metamorphosis is about transitions that move in and out of the visible world. It’s about stages of becoming in rhythmic breathing. Each aspect of a work of art, or each stage in a series, is a partial expression of a greater archetype whose being transcends and encompasses the whole. (Patrick Stolfo)

The artists in this show have worked with a sensitive artistic language to decipher inner and outer changes. The stages of loss as described by Kübler-Ross, or an abstract form sequence that expresses the unfolding of a biography through stages of soft becoming, to unfolding, to vigorous interactions with the world until a quieted, peaceful, serene stage at the end of life ushers the human being out of physical existence. Or the changes of light from radiant light to reflective light, or the transition from an enclosed, round form to an angular, radial shape. The differences in qualities of the planets, the zodiac and musical intervals all can be explored artistically as a transition from one defining qualitative form language to the next.

The Living Forces in Nature are something we all experience and deeply appreciate. Though the living force itself, described by Rudolf Steiner as the etheric, remains invisible, nevertheless inscribes itself into stunning displays of flowing, living shapes into the elements of nature and is visible in rocks, plants, animals, water and clouds. The strongly colored rocks of the canyons in the South West are a testament to ancient, forceful, life-filled movements of a liquid earth and are here explored by one of our artists. Inscriptions of fluid patterns into the fibers of wood, or the ephemeral movement of the clouds, or streams of color on an iris blossom, all these manifestations of life, or the living forces in nature are a never ending source of inspiration for artists where the creative process itself becomes a careful listening to the whispering voice of the goddess Natura in her great multiplicity of colors and forms.

This exhibit celebrates change and the progression from one state of being into the next and the transformation that arises out of an inwardly and outwardly lawful transition. Artistic investigations into the underlying principles of change within us as well as lawful, living, powerful changes displayed in nature through cycles of becoming and dissolving and the inscriptions into the forms of existence will be on display.

The artworks in this exhibition reflect the artists’ exploration of inner transformation as the foundation of their creative activity. In their individual ways, the Lightforms artists share their artwork to stimulate interest and dialogue about mastering the art of metamorphosis. To transform all that is untransformed in human society, we must transform all that is untransformed in our selves. (Michael Howard)