The Dark Forest Series 2012
The series "The Dark Forest" consists of 7 paintings which illustrate how challenges are growth opportunities, using the archetypal Hero(in)es Journey as the model, and fueled by my own personal experiences. The paintings also use quotes from Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy, which is an allegorical story about the soul's journey to God. More information below the slide show about each of the paintings. BACK TO PORTFOLIO
The 7 paintings of the series "The Dark Forest" revolve around the first Canto in Alighieri's Classic The Inferno:
"In the middle of he journey of our life, I found myself within a dark woods, where the straight way was lost."
For Dante, this refers to his loss of Grace with God, for myself similarly it was my loss of hope in my life. This quote, depicted in the 4th and central painting, is the axis that the other 6 paintings revolve around.
The first ("Call to Enter") and seventh ("Return") form a triptych with the 4th painting ("Lost"), representing the
"departure/initiation/return" themes in the Hero(in)es Journey. The second ("Over the Lake") and sixth paintings ("Transformation") represent the largest challenges along the journey, and where the most wisdom was gained. The third (Comfort, Counsel + Companionship") and fifth ("Dreaming") paintings, flanking the centermost painting, represent the aid that was given along the way. Every painting includes more layers of meaning and personal as well as archetypal symbology, in order not only to tell my own tale, but the tale of the human experience.
The first painting in the series (“Departure” from Campbell’s Monomyth*), entitled “Call to Enter”, shows a young woman racing away from something not seen by the viewer, into a dark and stormy forest, filled with thorny vines. She is also leaving behind her home, seen on the hill in the top right corner. The horse is a traditional symbol for the soul or spirit, and I had dreamt of a horse before starting the series. The horse (or her “soul” “spirit” “Higher Self”) is her constant companion through the whole series.
The forest traditionally symbolizes the realm of the psyche and a place of testing and initiation, of unknown danger and darkness. From J.C. Cooper in An Illustrated Encyclopaedia Of Traditional Symbols:
“Entering the Dark Forest or the Enchanted Forest is a threshold symbol; the soul entering the perils of the unknown; the realm of death; the secrets of nature, or the spiritual world which man must penetrate to find the meaning.”.... “Retreat into the forest is symbolic death before initiatory rebirth.” (Source: John Fraim, Symbolism.org.) In Dante’s Inferno, the forest symbolizes the poet’s confusion and fear. The thorns, for me, symbolize fear and anxiety. And Fear is what spurs the girl to run. Fear, or Anxiety, was my own personal demon that inspired this piece (and series).
Inscribed at the top of the painting is a quote from Dante’s Inferno: “intrai per lo cammino alto e silvestro” translating to “I entered the dark and thorny way” (Inferno: Dante Alighieri, Canto II)
The second in the series, "Over the Lake", shows the Heroine senseless upon her horse, during Winter, facing over a frozen Lake, with a lone building behind it. The girl has run terrified to the point of exhaustion, and her horse has taken her to find refuge. “Winter” symbolizes death, absence of hope, frozen feelings, regret and isolation – to name just a few. At this stage of the Heroine's journey, Fear has driven her to give up; break down, and thus is forced to receive help. Over the Lake – symbolizing the unconscious (which is frozen), there is seen a building or refuge.
The third painting in the series, “Comfort, Counsel, + Companionship”, the Heroine is still lost in the “Forest” and encounters three mystical women who offer the gifts named in the title (remember the assistance mentioned in the Monomyth* pattern?). Though the girl is still lost, and entangled in thorny vines (anxiety), she is given aid freely to help her on her journey. The women represent dear people in my own life that did just that.
The fourth painting, “Lost”, is the axis the other paintings revolve around. Here the Heroine huddles resting with her horse for comfort, weeping, as she finds her self still in the middle of the wood, no closer to finding her way home.
In Joseph Campbell’s “Hero(in)es Journey”, this stage is the center point of the journey, the “Initiation”. It has many components, but for this girl here it represents a stage of reflection and rest, called “Apotheosis” – as well as where she must confront her demons, which in this story is Fear and Anxiety, called “Atonement with the Father” (Father representing what holds ultimate power in the character’s life).
Sadly, while painting this, I lost my faithful and dear companion, my Irish Wolfhound, Oskar. The Pieta-like pose of the girl holding her horse bears a striking resemblance to our last moments together, and I have felt Oskar whenever I have painted the horse.
Quoted on the frame of the painting is the first line of Dante’s Inferno:
Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita
mi ritrovai per una selva oscura,
ché la diritta via era smarrita.
“In the middle of he journey of our life,
I found myself within a dark woods,
where the straight way was lost.”
This quote illustrated exactly how I had been feeling: in the middle of my life (just turned 40), I was lost in the woods (didn’t know who I was anymore), and the straight way was lost (didn’t know how to heal or move forward).
The fifth painting, “Dreaming”, shows the Heroine asleep with her Horse, with a vision of her family behind her in the trees. Again, this symbolizes the assistance given on the girl’s journey, this time from her family. Without the love and support of my husband and daughter, as well as my extended family, I could not have found my way back to them.
The sixth painting, “Transformation”, you see the Heroine and her horse on a stormy coast, watching a Viking ship sail away, surrounded by seagulls and one lone salmon, leaping in farewell. Aboard the ship is a shadowed figure.
On February 24th, 2011, my father suddenly passed away. This painting is dedicated to him, and expresses my sorrow in having to say goodbye. My father was Norwegian, hence the Viking ship, and grew up in Norway on the water and amongst fishermen. When finding an image of seagulls to paint, I randomly chose from google images a photograph, which, in a beautiful synchronistical way, were seagulls photographed in the Lofoten Islands, where my father had spent much time as a young man with his Grandfather.
Though it is not written on this painting, a quote from Dante (Purgatory, Canto IV) is associated with this work:
Io era lasso, quando cominciai:
«O dolce padre, volgiti, e rimira com’
io rimango sol, se non restai».
I was exhausted when I began:
“Oh sweet father, turn around,
and look I shall be left behind if you do not stop.
Part of the “Initiation” portion of the Hero(in)es Journey is the “Road of Trials”. From Wikipedia:
“The road of trials is a series of tests, tasks, or ordeals that the person must undergo to begin the transformation.”
In the human adventure, this is the most inevitable of ordeals: the loss of a loved one.
The seventh, and final painting, “Coming Home”, you see the girl upon her horse, exiting a now summer filled forest over a bridge, back to her house on the hill, where her family is there to greet her. We have come to the “Return” portion of the Journey.
Components of the “Return” part of the Hero(in)e’s Journey include “Rescue from Without”, “Crossing the Return Threshold”, and “Master of the Two Worlds”
From Wikipedia:
“Rescue from Without-
Just as the hero may need guides and assistants to set out on the quest, oftentimes he or she must have powerful guides and rescuers to bring them back to everyday life, especially if the person has been wounded or weakened by the experience.”
Here the figure returns home, her family waiting to greet her – my personal rescuers!
“Crossing the Return Threshold-
The trick in returning is to retain the wisdom gained on the quest, to integrate that wisdom into a human life, and then maybe figure out how to share the wisdom with the rest of the world.”
This, I think, is both my own ultimate challenge, and the challenge of all of us, when we face difficult or paintful periods in our life.
Around the edge of the painting are four words in Italian: amore, fiducia, gracie, and acceptazzione: Love, Faith, Grace, and Acceptance. These are the gifts I brought back with me from this particular Journey, as I cross the “threshold” or in this case, a bridge.
On the bridge is the line: “fuor se’ de l’erte vie, fuor se’ de l’arte”. (CantoXXVII, Purgatory, Dante Alighieri). This translates to “Beyond the steep ways and the narrow art thou.”
“Master of the Two Worlds-
For a human Hero(in)e, it may mean achieving a balance between the material and spiritual. The person has become comfortable and competent in both the inner and outer worlds.”
In this painting, the figure on the horse is “between two worlds” as she crosses the bridge. The forest she leaves can be seen as the spiritual and inner world, and the return home to the material world, and her loved ones.
*The Hero(in)e’s Journey (or "Monomyth"), coined by Mythologist Joseph Campbell, is a traditional pattern found in narratives around the world. Reduced to its most basic components, it follows three parts: Departure, Initiation, and Return. From Wikipedia:
“In a monomyth, the hero begins in the ordinary world, and receives a call to enter an unknown world of strange powers and events. The hero who accepts the call to enter this strange world must face tasks and trials, either alone or with assistance. In the most intense versions of the narrative, the hero must survive a severe challenge, often with help. If the hero survives, he may achieve a great gift or “boon.” The hero must then decide whether to return to the ordinary world with this boon. If the hero does decide to return, he or she often faces challenges on the return journey. If the hero returns successfully, the boon or gift may be used to improve the world.”
"In the middle of he journey of our life, I found myself within a dark woods, where the straight way was lost."
For Dante, this refers to his loss of Grace with God, for myself similarly it was my loss of hope in my life. This quote, depicted in the 4th and central painting, is the axis that the other 6 paintings revolve around.
The first ("Call to Enter") and seventh ("Return") form a triptych with the 4th painting ("Lost"), representing the
"departure/initiation/return" themes in the Hero(in)es Journey. The second ("Over the Lake") and sixth paintings ("Transformation") represent the largest challenges along the journey, and where the most wisdom was gained. The third (Comfort, Counsel + Companionship") and fifth ("Dreaming") paintings, flanking the centermost painting, represent the aid that was given along the way. Every painting includes more layers of meaning and personal as well as archetypal symbology, in order not only to tell my own tale, but the tale of the human experience.
The first painting in the series (“Departure” from Campbell’s Monomyth*), entitled “Call to Enter”, shows a young woman racing away from something not seen by the viewer, into a dark and stormy forest, filled with thorny vines. She is also leaving behind her home, seen on the hill in the top right corner. The horse is a traditional symbol for the soul or spirit, and I had dreamt of a horse before starting the series. The horse (or her “soul” “spirit” “Higher Self”) is her constant companion through the whole series.
The forest traditionally symbolizes the realm of the psyche and a place of testing and initiation, of unknown danger and darkness. From J.C. Cooper in An Illustrated Encyclopaedia Of Traditional Symbols:
“Entering the Dark Forest or the Enchanted Forest is a threshold symbol; the soul entering the perils of the unknown; the realm of death; the secrets of nature, or the spiritual world which man must penetrate to find the meaning.”.... “Retreat into the forest is symbolic death before initiatory rebirth.” (Source: John Fraim, Symbolism.org.) In Dante’s Inferno, the forest symbolizes the poet’s confusion and fear. The thorns, for me, symbolize fear and anxiety. And Fear is what spurs the girl to run. Fear, or Anxiety, was my own personal demon that inspired this piece (and series).
Inscribed at the top of the painting is a quote from Dante’s Inferno: “intrai per lo cammino alto e silvestro” translating to “I entered the dark and thorny way” (Inferno: Dante Alighieri, Canto II)
The second in the series, "Over the Lake", shows the Heroine senseless upon her horse, during Winter, facing over a frozen Lake, with a lone building behind it. The girl has run terrified to the point of exhaustion, and her horse has taken her to find refuge. “Winter” symbolizes death, absence of hope, frozen feelings, regret and isolation – to name just a few. At this stage of the Heroine's journey, Fear has driven her to give up; break down, and thus is forced to receive help. Over the Lake – symbolizing the unconscious (which is frozen), there is seen a building or refuge.
The third painting in the series, “Comfort, Counsel, + Companionship”, the Heroine is still lost in the “Forest” and encounters three mystical women who offer the gifts named in the title (remember the assistance mentioned in the Monomyth* pattern?). Though the girl is still lost, and entangled in thorny vines (anxiety), she is given aid freely to help her on her journey. The women represent dear people in my own life that did just that.
The fourth painting, “Lost”, is the axis the other paintings revolve around. Here the Heroine huddles resting with her horse for comfort, weeping, as she finds her self still in the middle of the wood, no closer to finding her way home.
In Joseph Campbell’s “Hero(in)es Journey”, this stage is the center point of the journey, the “Initiation”. It has many components, but for this girl here it represents a stage of reflection and rest, called “Apotheosis” – as well as where she must confront her demons, which in this story is Fear and Anxiety, called “Atonement with the Father” (Father representing what holds ultimate power in the character’s life).
Sadly, while painting this, I lost my faithful and dear companion, my Irish Wolfhound, Oskar. The Pieta-like pose of the girl holding her horse bears a striking resemblance to our last moments together, and I have felt Oskar whenever I have painted the horse.
Quoted on the frame of the painting is the first line of Dante’s Inferno:
Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita
mi ritrovai per una selva oscura,
ché la diritta via era smarrita.
“In the middle of he journey of our life,
I found myself within a dark woods,
where the straight way was lost.”
This quote illustrated exactly how I had been feeling: in the middle of my life (just turned 40), I was lost in the woods (didn’t know who I was anymore), and the straight way was lost (didn’t know how to heal or move forward).
The fifth painting, “Dreaming”, shows the Heroine asleep with her Horse, with a vision of her family behind her in the trees. Again, this symbolizes the assistance given on the girl’s journey, this time from her family. Without the love and support of my husband and daughter, as well as my extended family, I could not have found my way back to them.
The sixth painting, “Transformation”, you see the Heroine and her horse on a stormy coast, watching a Viking ship sail away, surrounded by seagulls and one lone salmon, leaping in farewell. Aboard the ship is a shadowed figure.
On February 24th, 2011, my father suddenly passed away. This painting is dedicated to him, and expresses my sorrow in having to say goodbye. My father was Norwegian, hence the Viking ship, and grew up in Norway on the water and amongst fishermen. When finding an image of seagulls to paint, I randomly chose from google images a photograph, which, in a beautiful synchronistical way, were seagulls photographed in the Lofoten Islands, where my father had spent much time as a young man with his Grandfather.
Though it is not written on this painting, a quote from Dante (Purgatory, Canto IV) is associated with this work:
Io era lasso, quando cominciai:
«O dolce padre, volgiti, e rimira com’
io rimango sol, se non restai».
I was exhausted when I began:
“Oh sweet father, turn around,
and look I shall be left behind if you do not stop.
Part of the “Initiation” portion of the Hero(in)es Journey is the “Road of Trials”. From Wikipedia:
“The road of trials is a series of tests, tasks, or ordeals that the person must undergo to begin the transformation.”
In the human adventure, this is the most inevitable of ordeals: the loss of a loved one.
The seventh, and final painting, “Coming Home”, you see the girl upon her horse, exiting a now summer filled forest over a bridge, back to her house on the hill, where her family is there to greet her. We have come to the “Return” portion of the Journey.
Components of the “Return” part of the Hero(in)e’s Journey include “Rescue from Without”, “Crossing the Return Threshold”, and “Master of the Two Worlds”
From Wikipedia:
“Rescue from Without-
Just as the hero may need guides and assistants to set out on the quest, oftentimes he or she must have powerful guides and rescuers to bring them back to everyday life, especially if the person has been wounded or weakened by the experience.”
Here the figure returns home, her family waiting to greet her – my personal rescuers!
“Crossing the Return Threshold-
The trick in returning is to retain the wisdom gained on the quest, to integrate that wisdom into a human life, and then maybe figure out how to share the wisdom with the rest of the world.”
This, I think, is both my own ultimate challenge, and the challenge of all of us, when we face difficult or paintful periods in our life.
Around the edge of the painting are four words in Italian: amore, fiducia, gracie, and acceptazzione: Love, Faith, Grace, and Acceptance. These are the gifts I brought back with me from this particular Journey, as I cross the “threshold” or in this case, a bridge.
On the bridge is the line: “fuor se’ de l’erte vie, fuor se’ de l’arte”. (CantoXXVII, Purgatory, Dante Alighieri). This translates to “Beyond the steep ways and the narrow art thou.”
“Master of the Two Worlds-
For a human Hero(in)e, it may mean achieving a balance between the material and spiritual. The person has become comfortable and competent in both the inner and outer worlds.”
In this painting, the figure on the horse is “between two worlds” as she crosses the bridge. The forest she leaves can be seen as the spiritual and inner world, and the return home to the material world, and her loved ones.
*The Hero(in)e’s Journey (or "Monomyth"), coined by Mythologist Joseph Campbell, is a traditional pattern found in narratives around the world. Reduced to its most basic components, it follows three parts: Departure, Initiation, and Return. From Wikipedia:
“In a monomyth, the hero begins in the ordinary world, and receives a call to enter an unknown world of strange powers and events. The hero who accepts the call to enter this strange world must face tasks and trials, either alone or with assistance. In the most intense versions of the narrative, the hero must survive a severe challenge, often with help. If the hero survives, he may achieve a great gift or “boon.” The hero must then decide whether to return to the ordinary world with this boon. If the hero does decide to return, he or she often faces challenges on the return journey. If the hero returns successfully, the boon or gift may be used to improve the world.”