Ex Nihilo (Ode to The Garden of Earthly Delights)
2020
In Ex Nihilo (Ode to The Garden of Earthly Delights), a new visual narrative unfolds, exploring mythical and supernatural realms. These large-scale works delve into creation myths, the philosophical and theological narratives that explain the origin of the world within religious communities. Creation myths symbolically narrate the beginning of existence and provide a framework for understanding humanity's place in the universe. They shape cultural norms, guiding human interactions with nature and the nonhuman world.
The term ex nihilo translates literally as "from nothing," although in many creation myths, the distinction blurs between creation ex nihilo (from nothing) and creation from chaos. In ex nihilo myths, creation emerges from the potential within the creator, contrasting with creatio ex materia (creation from pre-existing matter) and creatio ex deo (creation from the being of God) in theological contexts. Myths, through their sense of awe and wonder, enable the mind to embrace the realms of possibility, the undiscovered, and the transcendent.
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As a side note: The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch is renowned for its complexity and enigmatic symbolism. The triptych explores the fate of humanity, revealing a green-grey grisaille when its wings are closed, suggesting a depiction before the creation of the sun and moon, which Christian theology posits were made to illuminate the earth. This visual connection resonates with an earlier work, Beyond the Oecumene / Part XLI (2019), through its design of the outer panels.