Artist Statement
The pioneers of protoscience viewed reality as the overlapping of three worlds: the Sulfur (or Instinctual/Passionate), the Salt (Physical/Tangible), and the Mercury (Spiritual/Divine). Cultures which developed concepts of dragons used these mythical figures as symbols of this awareness – dragons combined elements from each of these three Alchemical Worlds; for example, scales from a serpent (burrowing/underground/Sulfur), paws or legs from a wolf or lion (surface-dwelling/Salt), and the ability to fly or wings of an eagle or hawk (sky/Mercury). These supernatural beasts of legend represented the fusion of layers of awareness such as our very human emotions and drives, the reality of our physical body, and the pursuit of elevated thought and inspiration.
This jar is covered with alchemical symbols reflecting these three worlds, the Sulfur, Salt, and Mercury. The Relative density fluids show the separation of the worlds although they exist simultaneously within the same volume of the jar. Platonic solids inside represent the Elements associated with each world from an Alchemical perspective, Tetrahedron for Fire/Sulfur, Cube for Earth/Salt, and Dodecahedron for Aether/Spiritual (the Alchemical elements – Earth, Water, Air, Fire, and Aether – were not elements as from the Periodic Table, but a way for protoscientists to discuss what we understand today as the Phases of Matter; Earth=Solid, Water=Fluid, etc.).
Dragons, then, are not just fantasy monsters, but also symbols of the awareness of our whole being – a union of our drives and desires, our health and appetites, and our aspirations and hopes.
Credits:
Andrew Kosorok