Ragnarok

Built in 1130, the Urnes stave church stands as a monument to the Christian conquest of early Germanic religion.  Archeological features support the belief that Urnes stave church was built on top of an earlier religious site, adopting some existing beliefs, while denouncing others.  An example of syncretism, the northern facade illustrates scenes from Ragnarok, the Norse legend of an apocalyptic battle resulting in the end of the world.

Through syncretism, the practice of merging or integrating beliefs, practices, art, and traditions of one culture or theology into another for the sake of dominance, many myths survive today.  Of special interest to me is the Gregorian calendar.  While examining the Mayan calendar, I began to look at our own system.  In contrast to the Mayan system which evolved from Olmec traditions, our own calendar is syncretic.  Introduced on October 15, 1582, the Gregorian Calander replaces the Julian Calendar, which was short approximately ¼ day each year unlike the Mayan calander.  This modified system retained the names of days and months, merging a papal directive with traditional myths.

Exploring the Gregorian calendar, I encountered Anglo-Saxon traditions.  Like the Urnes stave church, the homogeny of traditions becomes transparent.  Compelled by this tenuous link, I came to this third series Ragnarok.  Named for the Norse gods, each day of our contemporary calendar pays homage to a nearly forgotten pantheon.  From an analysis of the myths, each piece named for a day of the week takes on symbolic attributes of their correlating patron deity.

Influenced by the Urnes stave church, paintings in this series are a combination of new techniques and old.  Referencing printmaking techniques from my early work, this new series incorporates a combination of masking and woodcut.  More representational than other series, Ragnarok is a syncretism of new and old work.

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