Jean Miele: What Could Be

March 23 - April 20, 2013

Opening Reception: Saturday, March 23, 6-8 p.m.

Scientific Inquiries explores the idea that science, mysticism, theology, cartography, cosmology and photography are intertwined disciplines, and that all arise from the fundamental human need to ask: "Who are we, and what is our place in the universe?"

 

Each hand-embossed photomontage in this series melds my own photographs with historical artifacts: ancient manuscripts, maps, star charts, ship's logs, NASA photographs, and 19th century glass plates. This work explores the question of who we are, historically, spiritually, and perceptually: Do we create our own reality? Does magic exist? Is "truth" a matter of perception?

 

To that end, the deliberately small scale of these images, deceptively ambiguous navigational aids, and barely legible text reflect the way answers to the questions that are most important to us are always just slightly beyond our grasp. It reminds us that no matter how advanced the methods or technology we bring to bear, "facts," scientific and otherwise, inevitably change over time.

 

This series peers backwards and forwards through time. It gratefully acknowledges the debt we owe to the individual genius and collective persistence of a thousand generations of philosophers, scientists, alchemists, mathematicians, and poets. It also reminds us that "Who am I?" and "What's out there?" are eternal questions. Transcendence rules. What we know - and what we think possible - has no zenith, but is part of a seemlessly evolving continuum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had always heard Iceland was the land of Fire and Ice. What took me by surprise was the wind – and the waves. The south wind and the ocean both travel for more than 4000 miles uninterrupted between Antarctica and the southern coast of Iceland. They make landfall with breathtaking, almost ferocious intensity in and around the little town of Vik i Mýrdal. At 6°.25N 19°1'W, Vik is very nearly Iceland’s southernmost point. Windswept and starkly beautiful, southern Iceland is steeped in history and inhabited by Spirits of Place. It’s special. Iceland made me feel calm, and connected to All There Is. I spent a few unforgettable days there in May 2009, early spring, visiting the home of giants, where the elemental forces that shape the world live