PRISM OF CONSCIOUSNESS

Acrylic and oil paint on deep edge canvas, 2024

60 cm x 60 cm

SOLD

Inspired by the pineal gland, a small pinecone-shaped gland in the brain's centre, which was revered by ancient civilisations as a mystical organ.

The Egyptians believed it represented the seat of consciousness, while the pinecone symbolism appears in Sumerian artefacts, under Jesus's feet, and on the Pope's staff. The Ancient Greeks saw it as a valve for the spirit or soul.

In the 17th century, René Descartes called it the "principal seat of the soul." Ancient cultures also referred to it as the “third eye.” From around 2600 BCE, the Indus Valley Civilisation symbolised the third eye with a ‘bindi’ on the forehead.

Remarkably, the presence of retinal tissue in the pineal gland, receptive to light, was confirmed only about a century ago. By the mid-20th century, its role as a neuroendocrine organ was established, but its full capabilities remain unknown.

O’ consciousness
When did we part
Have I none of you left
When I can sleep easy in the night?