Divine Mother 1
25 October 1981, A 4, liquid glazing paint on paper
From October to November of 1981, I did a series of 5 paintings on "The Divine Mother". In Christian tradition, the female aspect of the divine is personified by Holy Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. The present series of "The Divine Mother" is fiery, with mostly golden yellow, white, and sometimes a bit blue and golden colour. The paintings were done in the flow of the after-effects of the strong spiritual experience of September 1981, very rapidly (approximately 1 hour each) and in a state of rapture.
Ever since my early-most childhood, this form aspect of divine feminity is very close to me. I only came to know later that the iconography of Holy Mary absorbed other forms of the female aspect of the divine and that also in man there is "wo-man", a feminine aspect. I searched it in the eastern and western expressions and was fascinated by Sri Kumar's seminars on Saraswathi and Sri Suktam.
Divine Mother 2
07 November 1981, A 4, liquid glazing paint and gold colour on paper
The picture shows the Mother as the World Mother, standing on top of the sphere of creation, clad in dark blue, like the background from where She emerges, with a crown of light and surrounded by an orange / golden yellow aura and an aura of gold - the colours of the higher mental and buddhic planes of pure energy. Again and again I paint images with radiant auras of energy, they keep fascinating me. The Mother is blessing the world / creation with her hands and her presence. I didn't paint a face, for it is just a non-personal expression of the divine feminity.
The picture was done together with another one, which I called Roi de l'Univers (King of the Universe), the male aspect of the divine male-female expression. It is published later, after this series.
Divine Mother 3
08 November 1981, A 4, liquid glazing paint on paper
The picture shows the mother with the child in a drop of light. For me, the form of the drop has always been the shape of the soul; this form already came in paintings in the early and mid-70s. Here the mother and the Christ-Child at her breast are like an opening to the background of blue from where the manifestation comes. The mother protecting and nurturing the incarnated soul bringing the light down to earth is the gesture of this picture and full of warmth and flowing radiation.
I did 3 paintings the same day - it was a totally inspired situation.
Divine Mother 4
08 November 1981, A 4, liquid glazing paint and golden colour on paper
The picture shows the mother in a direct view, surrounded by an aura of light and golden radiation on a golden-yellow background.
When I did this picture, I was deeply touched by the look which came through the eyes.
This is the first picture of the Fiery Paintings, where a face appears, though resting vaguely in a sense. With the previous pictures, I hesitated and tried to avoid the concretion of a face into a form. I felt it is somehow limiting the universal aspect of pure energy. At the same time the look strongly increases the impact; it touches the observer. In the next picture, there is also the concretion of a face. And you will find eyes in other pictures that follow.
The picture oscillates between the concrete and the abstract. There is a flow of energy expressed in the flow of hair and the beginning torso. And the golden radiation is transcending the borders of the picture.
All the time I tried to paint light, not colour on paper, though it wasn't possible. So I made slides from the pictures, looked at them as light - but nevertheless only the reflection on matter brings forth the light.
Divine Mother 5
12 November 1981, A 4, liquid glazing paint on paper
This picture of The Divine Mother series was, for me, the most intensive one. It came out nearly in one stroke, very rapidly and in some kind of ecstasy. The entire painting is a flow of energy, and from out of a cascade of fast brush strokes came forth the fiery face of the mother tenderly looking towards her child in her arms. Her hand holds the head in a gesture of protection. The infant turns his head towards his mother's face, in intimate unison, lying open in her arms.
After finishing the painting, I couldn't turn away my eyes - the expression of this scene impregnated me and came again and again before my mind's eye the next few days.
Divine Mother 7 - The Family
12 December 1981, A 4, liquid glazing paint on paper
The painting shows Jesus together with Mary and Joseph, as the representants of the Holy Family in fiery flames.