Sybil Archibald Sculptures
The Earthen Vessel Series
Within this earthen vessel
by Kabir, translation, Tagore https://amzn.to/2njMyN5Within this earthen vessel are bowers and groves, and within it is the Creator:
Within this vessel are the seven oceans and the unnumbered stars.
The touchstone and the jewel-appraiser are within;
And within this vessel the Eternal soundeth, and the spring wells up.
Kabir says: “Listen to me, my Friend! My beloved Lord is within.”
7 pieces, scroll down to see them all.
Only two sculptures from this body of work are still available, The Teacher and Meister Eckhart. Click here for purchase.
Beethoven: Listening to the Universal Heartbeat
Acrylic Paint on Wood & Clay
24" x 60" x 18"
SOLD
I was deeply moved when reading Beethoven’s letters. He wrote that his hearing loss:
… brought me to the verge of desperation, and wellnigh caused me to put an end to my life. Art! Art alone, deterred me. Ah! How could I possibly quit the world before bringing forth all that I felt it was my vocation to produce?
This piece is about listening and perseverance. Beethoven listened to silence through unstoppable ear ringing, heard the Divine heartbeat and translated it for the human ear. His example help keep me going when facing adversity. Watch me discuss this sculpture below.
The Teacher: Opening to Love
Acrylic Paint on Wood and Clay
26" x 15" x 12"
This work is inspired by an inspirational and transformative teacher who opened my mind and heart. It explores the way love and energy are given to an open vessel to pour into they world.
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St. Francis: The Healing Nature of Wounds
Acrylic Paint on Wood and Clay, 58" x 18" x 18"
SOLD
Religious stories and symbols can hold much wisdom and insight whether you are religious or just on the spiritual path. I find tremendous riches in the the life of St. Francis. Our experiences of pain are mirrored for us by St. Francis’ stigmata (the sacred wounds of Christ).
St. Francis was a nobleman who went to war and was imprisoned and became very ill. He was broken and when he returned to Assisi he could no longer resume his life. But it was his very brokenness that allowed him to reform as the amazing example of love he became. Our brokenness and wounds leave their marks but frees u to become greater than we were. For this reason, I planted aloe vera in St. Francis’ stigmata, to illustrate the healing power wounds can bring to our lives.
This sculpture was broken into many pieces during a move. The instant he broken I understood this was an integral part of this piece and repaired it leaving some of the cracks visible as in the Japanese practice of Kitsugi, filling the cracks in pottery with gold. For more on the meaning of this piece and the story of the sculpture breaking, check my blog entry: St. Francis Broken.
The Pregnant Virgin: Creative Vessel
Painted wood and clay, 55" x 16" x 16"
SOLD
The pregnant Virgin Mary, the ultimate symbol of a creative vessel, sits on a pedestal depicting the Annunciation (the Angel Gabriel telling Mary she is pregnant). The piece explores how the fecund stream of Creativity enters the world. Mary here is the Womb, the physical location of creation. She is the artist’s exemplar. The endless wellspring of creativity is constantly seeking to pour through the artist so that it may be joined with matter in the act of making art. This is the artist’s sacred duty, channeling Above into below.
For more on the symbolism of the Virgin Mary as creative vessel see my blog here.
Hildegard of Bingen: Finding Voice
Acrylic Paint on Wood and Clay, 60" x 18"
SOLD
Hildegard is a 12th century German Abbess who had had an amazingly creative life. At a time when few women wrote, Hildegard, produced major works of theology and visionary writings and was consulted by and advised bishops, popes, and kings. She wrote treatises about natural history and medicine. She is also the first composer whose biography is known.
Early in Hildegard’s life she started having visions. She received a divine message that she was to write down her visions. When she refused, she became ill, when she wrote she was healed. She is an example of the miraculous healing powers of surrendering to your own creativity. For more on Hildegarde check my blog here.
St Teresa: The Interior Castle
Acrylic Paint on Wood and Clay, stained glass, 28" x 18" x 18"
SOLD
When I read St. Teresa’s The Interior Castle, I was reminded of a dream I had as a young girl. In the dream I was in a house and travelled from floor to floor, each floor was a different color. The attic was filled with violet objects and light down, floor by floor, each with its own color to the basement which had blood on the floor. Later in life I realized these colors corresponded to the colors of the 7 chakras.
Meister Eckhart: On Birthing
Acrylic Paint on Wood and Clay, 25" x 15" x 12"
Meister Eckhart (1260 – c. 1328) was a German theologian, philosopher and mystic, born in was is now Germany. His writings have had a profound impact on me. Particularly his idea of the ground or womb of God that is continuously giving birth to the world is within us all. If you can trace the path deep inside back to the root of all being you can be birthed forth anew. The root of all creation is inside and unites us all, we only need to find a way to access it.
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Earthen Vessel Artist Statement
My hands are frozen fists. 17 years ago, I contracted a rare disease, scleroderma. Over time I have gone from leading a full, active life to a more contemplative existence with much time spent in bed. My hands are a prison of limitations, but also a gateway to the beautiful adventure of making art. They are funnels for the flow of creative energy into the world.
My current body of work, “The Earthen Vessel”, explores the relationship between physical suffering and creative energy. My subjects are real people whose lives profoundly influence me. People like Hildegard of Bingen, a charismatic 12th century abbess, Frida Kahlo and Beethoven are mapmakers for creativity in the face of great sorrow and suffering.
I rip open each of my subjects to explore the Source of the creative process. Using their physical form and personal histories, I demonstrate how creativity flows into the world through physical suffering. My painted sculptures also map my own inward journey, a path through trial and delight seeking this creative Source. I enter deeply into the creative process and find endless surprises. This journey becomes compensation for all the physical adventures I can no longer take. Thus through the creative process, physical suffering transforms into deep healing and joy.