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autumn
images of life, death, and faith at the end of the millennium by
Melissa M. L. Duncan
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Welcome to the ash exhibition web site.
This virtual exhibition will run contains images by the artist
now in private collections and not available for hanging in the
"real" venue. In some respects, this exhibit in
cyberspace may be seen as a more complete vision of the artist's
work.
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 Winter
or The Fifth Good Joy of Mary (48"x32"
- acrylic and silver leaf) is a powerful vision of maturity
contemplating both death and immortality. The strong female form,
crowned in evergreen bows, holly twigs and berries,
dispassionately views the fate she will never know. Like all
Melissa's works, this piece is a text written in the language of
iconography in a dialect specific to northwestern Europe. The
evergreen bows represent immortality and hope. The holly with its
red berries represent sacrifice and salvation. The skull is
death, of course, but also the symbol of completion and rest. The
maternal form is nature herself, hardened and wearied by the
weight of the year now passing, but still strong and unbowed.
(currently in a private collection)
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 Jesus
Christ the Apple Tree (42"x29"
- acrylic and silver leaf) was inspired by the carol of the same
name. The tree, like the man, is both life giving and wrapped in
death. Spring, summer, autumn, and winter can all be found within
this canvas. The form f the tree is ambiguous, taking on
anthropomorphic contours. Like the work above, this an
iconographic piece exploring the tension between life and death,
but the message here is conveyed by means of superimposed forms
and the juxtaposition of incongruous realities. (currently in a
private collection)
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 Death
and the Lady (30"
x 40" - acrylic) is an ancient theme, a cautionary tale on
pride and self-importance. The winged figure of Death stands half
a step behind a young woman with his darkly feathered wings
placidly flown, like a lover in attendance. The leaves on the
bows wreathing the bottom of the painting are beginning to wither
and the fabric behind the woman in beginning to unravel, symbols
of entropy and decay.
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 The
Ash Tree (36" x
48" - acrylic) stood at the centre of the norse universe, a
gigantic tree with three enormous roots extending to the realm of
men (Midgard), the expanse of hell (Niflheim), and the land of
giants (Jotunnheim). From these diverse regions the tree drew its
sustenance. It is to this tree that Odin came for wisdom and
understanding. The Ash was the symbol of all worldly experience
both good and bad. It was the symbol of strength on the face of
an often hostile world.
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 The
Wyrd Sisters (22"
x 24" - acrylic) were the weavers of men's lives. The
maiden, the matron, and the crone; they represented the three
ages of women. Labouring ceaselessly, the tapestry they made set
the scope and length of each mortal's existence. Their whim was
ultimate, indisputable, and .dispassionate. In this picture their
images are set amongst the branches and leaves at the ash at
whose base they sit.
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 Fourteen
Angels (20" x
22" - acrylic) is a painting about our sense of isolation in
a threatening world and the search for grace that arises from
that ill ease. The lost children in the wild wood is an image as
old as memory. Though modern in appearance, they are
representatives of primordial uncertainty. Behind and around them
are the symbols of their ultimate salvation forgotten or unseen
but ever present even in this dark place.
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 All
Soul's Night (20"
x 24" - acrylic) touches the bitter spring of
humanity where every beginning holds the seed of the end. The
freshly plowed fields, white furrowed with late snow, presage the
autumn declining into winter. The virgin is crowned with white
candles for joy, though these will endure only a little while,
and thorns for sorrow which, hard as they are, will last a life
time.
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 Thank
you to the Lazy Bay Cafe for a great opening night reception.
(Good coffee and great food!)
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Click to e-mail!
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