Divine Illumination

According to an article by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy “The doctrine [divine illumination] holds that human beings require a special divine assistance in their ordinary cognitive activities.” This definition drove my exploration and a series of portraits I made for our Radical color assignment. For this final project I will continue this exploration; focusing on light, divine femineity, and further pushing the symbolic representations of light and circular motifs as portals. This work differs from the original series as I explore more conceptual ideas in regard to light. Photons are the basic units that make up light. In the sense that they never age or experience time they are eternal. The sun and moon emit light visible to Every human with the ability of sight. Through my processes I have found light to represent knowledge and truth. It is a unifying force... an entity that transcends time. 

I photographed female models to embody an authentic divine feminine energy where the model feels empowered. There are many loose definitions of divine femininity. Women’s Recovery defines it as the feminine aspect of the divine power that connects and binds the Earth together. To summarize, it is an energy I believe to live inside of all feminine identifying individuals exuding confidence and power. Cycles of patriarchal ideologies of weakness and the need to be docile are replaced by empowering representations of women showing strength in then femininity that connects human nature. 

Motifs of circular objects in my original series are continued and further developed. These motifs represent cycles and connectedness. In unison with high contrast lighting, they are symbolic representations of portals. Deana Lawson’s use of circular objects as portals to other dimensions inspired this work. Portals are the destination of enlightenment and awakening with light and divine femininity as the vehicle. The prints are sized to intentionally take up space. Light gels, reflectors, and strobes are used in unconventional forms to meet these concepts and the evidence of photographic equipment provides transparency to the processes of the art.  

Peace can be found in outlets that allow you to step away from the monotony of day-to-day life. Not being bound to the present. Considering realms and things that we know exist but may not be able to entirely perceive gives hope that in some capacity there are greater divine forces working for us.