LUX ÆTERNA

Artist Ellen Marie harks back to the craft of the old masters. A technical style she perfected at the Barcelona Academy of Art. Lux Æterna, Latin for ‘Eternal Light’, is a series of 57 paintings in which we follow the process of a man on his way to self-realisation.

In the first act, we find him writhing in agony, tormented by a blindfold, which prevents him from seeing the light that surrounds him. In act two the blindfold has come off and gradually a dance unfolds, a dialogue between the light falling on his body and the life forces welling up from within him. In the third act, blobs of paint splash from the canvas. The form falls apart and transmutes into an unrecognisable mass that contains merely the suggestion of a figure. In the last part our man finally finds kinship with like-minded souls bathing in the divine light.

The story visualises the artist’s inner quest for Truth, Light and Freedom. The thematic repetition gave her the opportunity to deepen the technical aspect of oil paint and to experiment. Art critic Koen Van Damme composed five accompanying poems.

Text in English and Dutch.