In the artwork “Lapis Philosophorum”, painting becomes a conceptual talisman and an alchemical crucible, reflecting on the soul’s capacity to... Read More
In the artwork “Lapis Philosophorum”, painting becomes a conceptual talisman and an alchemical crucible, reflecting on the soul’s capacity to transmute pain into rebirth. The composition stages a dense dialogue of opposites, where the vital pursuit of dreams coexists with the darkness of disappointments. The brightly colored Gouldian finches embody the vibration of pure desires and the beauty of human aspirations. Conversely, the magnolia flowers reverse their traditional meaning of dignity and perseverance: they appear blackened, denied of light, and symbolically poisoned. This formal negation takes shape through the use of ivory black, an organic pigment de-rived from the calcination of ivory or other animal bones, understood here as an archetype of death. Between desire and its negation, the human being acts as the true philosopher’s stone, capable of catalyzing and redeeming negative thought into positive. The pure gold background manifests the One and the All of the Universe, the beginning and end that contains everything.