The Lock, The Key, The Gate: A recent collaboration between Baldwin + Sandoski
On the unknown: Our worldly experience is structured around society protecting us from the threat of the unknown. One of the purposes of art is to explore the unknown in the abstract without the threat of physical harm. This piece addresses that mysterious realm which every individual navigates through as part of the human experience.
She faces away from us. You cannot read intent, mood, or other physical cues that would be observed in normal physical interactions. We have only her presence and are able to witness her encounter with the unknown. For many of us, the ultimate unknown is life beyond the physical world. It is similar to a locked door which you can only go through once. The locks and keys on either side are representative of that passage from the familiar into the world beyond. The found wood represents the structure of everyday life, the mundane, that which would otherwise protect us from the beyond. In a way similar to our earthly birth, i.e. coming from an unknown source into humanity, the figure in the painting represents a movement in the reverse: stepping beyond our earthly realm, through the locked gate and into unfamiliar territory. She faces the otherwise uncrossable river and waits to address the spiritual realm.
Throughout history the unknown has been represented by the feminine, order and structure by the masculine. In this work the keys and wood represent the masculine, the locks the feminine. The female figure represents the act of leaving the world of order and structure to return to the unknown source of being. The viewer is invited to witness the crossing of the river Styx, going from the world of action through structure and back into the source.
—-
Baldwin + Sandoski
On the unknown: Our worldly experience is structured around society protecting us from the threat of the unknown. One of the purposes of art is to explore the unknown in the abstract without the threat of physical harm. This piece addresses that mysterious realm which every individual navigates through as part of the human experience.
She faces away from us. You cannot read intent, mood, or other physical cues that would be observed in normal physical interactions. We have only her presence and are able to witness her encounter with the unknown. For many of us, the ultimate unknown is life beyond the physical world. It is similar to a locked door which you can only go through once. The locks and keys on either side are representative of that passage from the familiar into the world beyond. The found wood represents the structure of everyday life, the mundane, that which would otherwise protect us from the beyond. In a way similar to our earthly birth, i.e. coming from an unknown source into humanity, the figure in the painting represents a movement in the reverse: stepping beyond our earthly realm, through the locked gate and into unfamiliar territory. She faces the otherwise uncrossable river and waits to address the spiritual realm.
Throughout history the unknown has been represented by the feminine, order and structure by the masculine. In this work the keys and wood represent the masculine, the locks the feminine. The female figure represents the act of leaving the world of order and structure to return to the unknown source of being. The viewer is invited to witness the crossing of the river Styx, going from the world of action through structure and back into the source.
—-
Baldwin + Sandoski
