Venus Triptych

Venus Triptych

Venus Triptych attempts to portray manifestations of divine feminine love on Earth.

The work was inspired by the Venus Passage (2012), a rare celestial alignment that blissfully happened in our lifetime and allowed us to contemplate the vastness of the universe and its unfathomable harmony. The central part, Venus with a Star, reflects divine love which permeates the whole cosmos. The second part, Venus with Water, realizes love in its nourishing aspect, which sustains life and maintains balance on our planet. The third part, Venus with Fire, focuses on the purifying power of love, which makes spirituality possible for each of us. Of course, the theme proved to be too big a task for my artistic as well as technical skill. I had been repeatedly humbled by my inability to recreate the vivid images I saw in my mind’s eye. I turned for inspiration and strength to the art masterpieces of the past – renaissance, romanticism and classicism. I kept trying, stretching my existing skills and searching for new. Lace supported my efforts well, confirming that there are no limitations to the technique other than lacemaker’s own. I grew as I reworked the pieces again and again. Finally, I learned to accept this work as a process without a formal end, and I am presenting the triptych as such.

Love is the only miracle there is…

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Venus with a Star

Venus with a Star (Variation on a Renaissance Theme)
Materials: copper – silver and gold plated, enamelled
Techniques: plaited renaissance lace
Size: H106.5cm x W46cm

Love was a central theme to the Renaissance art, and became enshrined in many timeless masterpieces that have inspired lovers and guided spiritual seekers ever since. At the beginning of all lace, the Renaissance needle and bobbin lace patterns were based on sacred geometry, and until today they cradle the original idea. In Venus’s elaborate aura they affirm the presence of expansive cosmic consciousness, a formless creative energy. As the threads radiate from the centre, they expand and grow into elaborate pattern, symbolizing the primordial energy manifesting through the feminine principle in countless forms. Focal point of the picture, a four-pointed star positioned conspicuously on mons Venus, places Love firmly on the Earth and in women’s womb. That was the Renaissance ideal, and like Renaissance lace, it is here to stay.

Venus with Water

Venus with Water (Vltava/Moldau)
Materials: enamelled copper, czech glass beads
Techniques: half-stitch and free form lace
Size: H106.5cm x W46cm

Contemplating love that cares, nourishes and protects naturally brought memories of my childhood into the picture. I grew up with folks who were capable of loving each other and their children, who sang and danced in joy and also sadness, who did not loose their sense of humour even in the most trying circumstances. With their roots deeply in the earth, the Bohemian Slavs used to worship nature as manifestation of the divine – hills, forests, soil, and most of all – water. Water springs, ponds, brooks and rivers were celebrated in sacred rituals, and eternalized in myths, tales and songs. Many artists were inspired by them, and the resulting culture flows like a mighty Vltava river throughout the people’s history. Melodies of a beloved symphonic poem of the same name, composed by Bedřich Smetana, swayed the bobbins on my lacemaking pillow to dance, and the lace poured in. Like water that springs from the mons Venus to nourish all life , like yin that constantly changes and therefore defeats all obstacles, like love that is forever.

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Venus with Fire

Venus with Fire (Brunhild)
Materials: enamelled copper, partially gold plated
Techniques: half-stitch and free form lace
Size: H106.5cm x W46cm

The most absorbing from the three, Venus with Fire, has taken me beyond all my limits. The fire captivated  my senses and burned and melted rigid patterns and ideas one after another. Intense heat of the raw energy alternated regularly with feelings of loss and confusion.  I was lucky to have a guide for the work right from its conception, and her help was vital. Brunhild, a valkyrie and a shieldmaiden, protected me and led me through. I have learned a lot about this goddess-warrior who, of her free will decided to save pure love in this world. Seeing that the strong rule of her father Wotan (Odin), and an innate wisdom of her mother Erda (Earth), were no longer in a harmonious relationship, Brunhild was intuitively drawn to love and its power to restore balance of the masculine and feminine elements. To understand human love she sacrificed her immortality and experienced the duality of life as a mortal woman and a lover. In an ultimate offering she united with her beloved eternally by jumping into his funeral pyre. Her sacrifice restored love on earth and in heavens. Remembered in the old myths, and illuminated in Richard Wagner’s musical drama The Ring of the Niebelung, Brunhild’s message today is as timely as it is timeless.

Copyright©2014 Lenka Suchanek. All rigths reserved.