Oculus iii, Black Sun (Blown Glass and Timber). 2017, 140 x 40 x 40. Daniel Venables, Photo Credit Adam McGrath
Oculus series (1 - 5)
The Oculus series interrogates whether clinical, 'chemical' diagnoses are useful to the visceral understanding of the embodied experience of psychological darkness. Or, whether we gain a more comprehensive understanding of this darkness through a poetic, pre-scientific comprehension of the psyche, drawn from the language of alchemy. These works present a subjective perspective to the viewer, by utilising the optical and refractive properties of blown glass in order to distort the viewer's vision.
This work was completed as the thesis portion of my honours year, at the Australian National University, Glass Workshop.
Each individual Oculus is designed to reference a specific point upon the alchemical cycle - a cycle of transformation, destruction and rebirth, interpreted by alchemists as the cycle upon which matter is created.
Each of these stages of the cycle can be attributed to a different stage of the experience of psychological darkness.
