Artwork Title and Date of creation: HALO JANUARY 2012 Medium: Plexiglas, fluorescent lamps, motor, aluminium frame,

, colour transparencies and acrylic paint. Artwork Concept: The world of the visible and of the invisible is a world of light... This work is an attempt to explore the unseen realms of existence that surround us, conjuring the visible out of the non-visible, tracking the movements of the unseen, and giving a shape to what is not there: A map of invisible emanations, a halo. A frame of milky plexiglass and a small round mirror in its middle is hanging on the wall like an odd object out of place. The mirror is big enough to reflect one face only. But when the lights flicker on across its surface, a bright colourful pattern appears around it, spinning and breathing hypnotically: that of a star within a circle, with eight points emanating from a sacred centre. A symbol of esoteric meaning which first appears in Byzantino-Slavic iconography in the 14th century. In the writings of Dionysius the Areopagite it is the symbol of the hidden depths of Wisdom, a model of the action of light by which God manifests His Oneness in the creation. The reflection in the mirror engages the viewer directly by placing the halo around the head and thus making them a central figure in the composition. A long standing symbol of spiritual and intellectual progress, light is used here not just a medium and material but above all suitable means to critically examine the social contexts surrounding us. It is poetically and realistically used to create spaces and places for remembrance, history and poetry. The cultural history of mankind is also and above all the history of light. According to scientists today the only light we can see is that which is reflected within the visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum, the latter being only a 0.005% of the estimated mass of the universe... Even matter is "condensation of light into patterns moving back and forth at average speeds which are less than the speed of light"(David Bohm -physicist). Human beings are natural conductors of light frequencies and the physical body is a body of light organized into atomic patterns. According to ancient beliefs and religions this body of light is called an aura and can be seen as a luminous egg-shaped mist that extends from each living being. Another similar yet separate system extending from and surrounding the head is the halo. Halos have been extensively used in the iconography of many religions as a symbol of the light of grace bestowed by God, of holiness. Western culture's entrance into the Renaissance, the age of rationalism and the increased focus of that time on perspective in art brought about the steady decline of the halo. It became more lightly fashioned and in many cases was entirely omitted. Artists like William Blake and later on Van Gogh finding the divine within the soul of man, associated the self with the halo by adopting it in their art. In the 20th century the halo got incorporated into pop culture and completely lost authority. Walter Benjamin described loss of aura as symptomatic of the artwork in modern times. Inspired by the complex and sublime stained glass windows in the Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals and by using light and motion to animate it the work aims to view the world as energy so as to heighten the awareness of human potentiality and question the self-imposed limitations that serve to confine the very nature of our thoughts and being, simultaneously referencing the past, present and future. The result is a hypnotic sensation that submerges the viewer for a few minutes into a state of relaxation and disengagement of the subconscious, following the image into an atmospheric dream mode. Then, the conversation in the mirror between self and Self can take place, uninterrupted from the myriad other conversations of the mind. In this altered state the layers of reality are shed and separation systems fall apart. The sublime law of conscious light takes place through personal mystic experience. Size: 81cm X 81cm X 15cm

"We are the mirror as well as the face in it..." - Rumi "In this mirror the whole universe is a gem of light beyond the terms of in and out." - Zen text On the screen the colours spin around illuminating patterns and memories of a divine nature. Following this hypnotic rhythm the viewer looking in the mirror, perhaps starts to wonder : How different would things be if we could deeply understand that beyond appearances we are energy in perpetual motion and part of a world made of light? Behind all appearances, I divine a struggling essence. I want to merge with it [.] to hear the Invisible calling. Nicos Kazantzakis, Askitiki, 1927