Audio By Carbonatix
For artist Gemma Bayly, the mandala is a key to self-awareness that inspires an infinite mirroring of life energies, as tied to metaphysics as it is to quantum physics. The intricate, penciled mandalas featured in Bayly’s solo show Mirrors, which opens today at Hinterland Art Space, are evidence of this: The products of a painstaking drawing process, they are also connected to the artist’s spiritual awakening — and, in turn, to the viewers’. Inspired by physicist Nassim Haramein’s discussion of torsion physics, the pieces begin as circles before working their way inward. “Haramein spoke about everything in the world being a sphere or circle — how, within finite boundaries, there are infinite possibilities,” Bayly says. “I don’t see anything much more beautiful than a circle or sphere, the shape of the earth and the planets.”
Bayly uses a compass, a ruler and a sheet of paper to map out the design but does all the ensuing line work freehand with ink, a process that can often take weeks to complete. “It’s like tattooing — permanent,” she notes. “Once you’ve done it, it’s there.” The largest of these pieces measure thirty by thirty inches, and “when they’re in a frame,” she adds, “you can get really close to them, and it’s almost like a magic eye. You can begin to feel the whole thing mapping out the geometry of your face.”
Unconventional? So is the artist’s approach to the show’s opening, which she hopes won’t be typical: “It’s usually a quick passing of work, followed by the socialization part — mingling with friends. I can’t give away too much, but there will be many surprising things happening, focused on the experience of the work and its human connection.”
See Mirrors at Hinterland, 3254 Walnut Street, during a reception from 6 to 11 p.m. tonight and again at a closing-night event on June 7. In the interim, you can see the show by appointment; Bayly will also host a Sacred Drum Journeying Workshop on May 26 and a Diamond Yoga Workshop on June 2. For more information, go to sabinaell.com/hinterland or call 720-309-1764.
Fri., May 17, 6-11 p.m.; May 17-June 7, 2013
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