7 Emergence
From my manuscript, Soulscape: The Paradigm of Art
Metamorphosis - Newberry
7 Michael Newberry, Metamorphosis, 2024. Idyllwild, California. Permission by the artist.
In my painting, Metamorphosis, a woman is reaching above her head while looking back at where she came from, beautifully suggesting emergence. The vibrant nebula background of gold and purple adds layers of significance: gold represents enlightenment, divine energy, and transcendence, while purple signifies spiritual depth, mystery, and elevation. Together, the color and nebula elements create a transcendent setting for this emerging goddess.
Through art, we can perceive what the human spirit looks like at its most transformative and sublime states.
She is one from a pantheon of primordial gods and goddesses from my Space Series, inspired by such prehistoric figures as the Venus de Willendorf. She looks back to the beginning of our 40,000-year continuum of figurative art that served as both the catalyst and the proof of an integrated human cognition of thought, emotion, and perception, while also reaching upward toward our future.
An interesting theme that drives both the technique and subject matter is that her shadowed self is transparent and made of the stuff of the universe, while it is the light that defines her.