Artist's description: The series of Angel figures that I worked on when I was in Germany, thinking about the ‘Spirit of the Place’ in the ancient ruin of the Cistercian abbey at Chorin, developed the idea that there is an angelic presence in a Holy Place. I have been very much impressed by the idea of the 'Angel of History' that the German Jewish philosopher Walter Benjamin spoke of, and which the artist Paul Klee tried to represent. So I decided to think about the Angel-presence in this ruined historic building, which was first constructed by monks from Citeaux, who had been invited to come to these 'Marches of the Dukes of Brandenburg', to start agriculture in a wild and forested area. In this image I was thinking of the three angels who came to visit Sarah and Abraham, and camped under the sacred oaks of ‘Mamre’. I used the architectural forms of the brick Minster, where we find a whole series of windows, that have intricate Mandala patterns made from local clay, and then fired. The Mandala form of the window represents the open heart of the angelic presence, which symbolizes the Trinity that is both the unity, and diversity to be found in nature.
still image
Single image of a painting with a description by the artist.
Any, Anthropology, Art (History of Art), Communication, Media and Culture, Education, Fine Art , Geography, History, English and Drama, Philosophy , Religion and Theology
Jyoti Sahi angels Walter Benjamin Paul Klee Cistercian Chorin Citeaux Sarah Abraham mandala trinity
students, staff
Research literacy, Digital and information literacy, Global citizenship, Critical self-awareness and personal literacy, Academic literacy
Faculties\Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences
Schools\We…
05 April 2011