Creation myths : The world egg
A
Creation Myth is a supernatural mytho-religous story that describes the beginnings of life and the universe. It is
invariably but not always a deliberate act of creation by a supreme entity.
Many
accounts of creation share broadly similar themes.These often begin with a
magical emptiness, wherein there occurs the fractionation of the elements of
the world from a primordial chaos; the separation of the mother and father gods
or the splitting of a Cosmic egg and
the emergence of land and creatures from an infinite and timeless ocean.
My interest
lies in the commonality of many of these myths, although these beliefs and
stories may not be a literal account of actual events, they can be seen to
express ideas that are perceived by people and cultures to be truths at a deeper or more symbolic level.
With
this new body of work I am to focus on the notion of the cosmic or world
egg, the container of life, in a sense a metaphysical microcosm of our planet. The earth itself resembles an egg with a crust (shell), magma (egg
white) and core (yolk).
The
splitting of this egg symbolises the creation, from it emerges either a
primordial being or creator, or the elements to make the universe, the notion
of the egg, floating in the primordial waters containing the world also alludes to
the great flood or deluge and the ‘Ark.’
This
work is about symbolism and meaning on a subtle level. The objects are intended
to touch apon something just under the surface of or awareness.
My intention is to represent this ‘event’ and to use the ‘shell’ surface as a vehicle for generating imagery associated with these myths.
Yeah i know its Easter-purely coincidence though !
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These are truly beautiful, Michael.
Posted by: Cristina | March 22, 2008 at 05:08 PM
Hi Michael,
I love your new vessels and the piece you wrote about the cosmic egg.
Is it just me or did anyone else notice the images on the last few posts contain 2 items…. 2 shoes, 2 glass vessels, 2 wave heads, 2 earrings……
I suppose we can put it down to the collective consciousness of Irish arts bloggers.
Either way it was nice to see the connection.
Emma
Posted by: Emma B | March 24, 2008 at 05:29 AM