Awakenings IV, 2020, installation custom pvc sphere, helium, organza mesh, light, Photo courtesy of @artsdiary.

For artist Karen Sewell, an awareness or recognition that there is another reality or        dimension beyond the visible is what compels her work. “As a child I had strong sense of connectedness to the earth and the cosmos to the ‘aliveness’ of all living things. This connection and experience of a metaphysical realm that supports my flourishing and wellbeing as a human, has been sustained into adult life through engaging in practices of meditation and prayer and being open to what may be offered up in the spaces these practices open. Early on in my creative journey I learned that seeking to be an empty vessel was an important part of my creative process because emptiness can open space and act as a seedbed to receive the inspiration for the work that would be a vital or meaningful gift for others. Inspiration to work with the form of the sphere originated from a time of meditation and emptiness”. (the artist in conversation with artist, art writer and consultant Emil McAvoy, May 2020)

The sphere or circle is the primary geometric symbol in this exhibition and relates to sacred geometries which have long and layered histories. Galileo described sacred geometries as ‘the language of the universe’. They exist in nature, architectural structures and art across cultures. Harmonics are related to the planets and their distance from both one another and the sun – ‘the music of the spheres’. The sphere is a universal symbol and can represent wholeness, totality, the self, the feminine, life and its cycles, timelessness and the infinite. The sphere can also evoke the heavens. The veiling of the sphere references the shroud, which also appears in Western religious art – the veil between seen and unseen realms, between the heavens and the earth. The sound component in this installation is created from NASA voyager recordings in deep space around the planets and moons of our solar system. This information, when sent back to Earth and decoded, can be heard as intriguing and beautiful sounds from space - the real music of the spheres. Original recordings have then been woven together into the unique sound scape that can be heard in the installation.