It’s been almost 18 months since my last NFT artwork was minted so this is a comeback for the art department. I call this collage “Star of the Sea” although the reason is not immediately recognizable. My traditional color theme of black and gold is evident, as seen in previous works. And the familiar space backdrop fits in with other NFTs from earlier on, showing a trend.
The religious iconography is again also a central theme as with other NFTs. These art collages are a meditation piece upon which one can gaze, like a deity or an icon. In previous ages, and even still Catholicism and in India today, people come before a deity in a temple, whether made of stone or wood, and bow or sit in worship or meditation upon that icon as a representation of their deity or focal higher guiding force.
Notice the lightning, which is also seen in a previous work, which coincidentally, and unconsciously, also has Mary mother of god in it, which you can see here. https://nftshowroom.com/gallery/julianhorack_collages-julescape-q4-2021_mother-of-god-with-mystic-child?collection=true
There is an element of or hint of the Catholic theme in this piece since the icon in the centre is possibly Mary holding the Christ child. Which is why I called it Star of the Sea. That’s a name of Mary and coincidentally a name of an elder pagan goddess too, called Ea from Babylonian culture.
I used stars in the imagery to hint at the name. You can also see by the space imagery, with even the earth at the feet of the angel shaped like a crescent moon, that this is a celestial being with wings in the scene. And she seems to be possibly holding a child. The goddess has been portrayed like this for millennia, even before Mary, so it is an ancient theme. And the moon theme is associated with this divine mother.
Even Krishna, the god of the Veda also has a foster mother who raises him, and the scene of Krishna as a baby on the lap of his foster mother Jashoda, is much like that of Mary with baby Christ. Also the Egyptian pantheon has Isis with baby Horus, the sun deity, alleged to concur with and pre-date the Christ legend. The latter was grafted onto the former some say. As to where Krishna as a baby in his mother’s arms comes in, the Veda is said to date back 5000 years, or that is when the Krishna pastime occurred.
Whatever the case, the symbol is one worshiped by cultures across the globe and across time. So I have captured her here and highlighted her by decorating her for the pleasure of all to see like this. The blue against gold combination is of course reminder of royalty, of the divine couple of eastern tradition, Shiva and Parvati, or Krishna and Radha. Their black and gold complexions are said to be an eternal combination. And this golden goddess is sometimes likened to lightning in the esoteric Vedic literatures that talk of the pastimes between Krishna and his beloved Radha. She appears like a golden flash of lightning across the dark complexion of Krishna, Shyamasundara.
The small golden bird on the blue triangle in the foreground detail, is a symbol of the divine grace, the mercy of god, the descending of the blessing, the transmission, the holy spirit, who can sometimes be likened to a feminine potency, personality or shakti, force. It is after all, by grace that we are blessed to be a channel for any higher endevour in life. So the message goes.
Besides treasures in the foreground, almost like a cornucopia overflowing with jewels, there is also a book on the left, with a red cross on the cover, that being a symbol of wholeness and centeredness. It also appears in the eight spiralling spokes on the wheel, more than once in the image. Now, despite the presence of the earth, moon and planet, at the very top of the image is the slither of a larger golden orb. That is the sun, outshining all the other planets and orbs. It is also the symbol of the divine child, the Christ, the Horus or Krishna perhaps. Carl Jung also talked of the symbol of the divine child as being the symbol of he centre, or the self at the centre, the divinity, the Paramatma. So we have the Sun, Mercury, Earth Moon and stars.
The theme of abundance, opulence and gold is a recurring theme linked traditionally with divinity in religious art. It also features throughout my other art collage pieces in the NFT gallery. Feel free to inspect the latest NFT, or peruse my gallery of works at the link here. https://nftshowroom.com/gallery/julianhorack_collages-julescape-q3-2023_star-of-the-sea?collection=true
I have minted only three editions of this collage work to keep the scarcity of this original collage art piece done by hand with scissors and glue and paper.