The Flower of Life

An art exhibition by Morena Guarnaschelli has opened in the foyer of Bagni di Lucca’s casino at Ponte a Serraglio.

Morena is highly regarded for her artistic creations which have unfolded in ever evolving stages. She is also well-known for her brilliant organization of such events as ‘Women’s day’ and ‘extempore art’ which have been highlights in Bagni di Lucca’s calendar.

Emerging from the enforced social curtailment of the past two years Morena tells me that her exhibition stems from her discovery of the spiritual geometry of the Flower of Life and owes much to the harsh times experienced under the pandemic. As she says in her manifesto (my translation):

“After years of creating styles in different directions I wished to approach a new expression in art, perhaps also thanks to the “lockdown”, which gave me the time to dedicate to my art. I continued with my “mandala” theme, concentrated on the female face (always my favorite subject) and last year, in its simplest form, on the female profile.

I began to explore sacred designs like the Mandala, the Flower of Life, and Yin Yang. The circle symbol itself is regarded as the representation of the infinite, without beginning or end. Starting with a circumscribed circle, as was the custom of Tibetan monks for meditation, I went beyond, feeling the need to escape to freedom. Shortly afterwards, I discovered the Flower of Life, a flower with six petals, which contains within itself perfection, creation and summation.

The flower is a symbol I fell in love with! Every petal is a symbol of balance, harmony, rebirth and perfection. It is the most well-known and complex form of sacred geometry. Using the Flower of Life in everyday life means surrounding oneself with its power and continuous source of energy.

Everything was created through the Flower of Life. Every molecule of life, every cell in our body contains this structure as its basis, from atoms to galaxies. Finally, in Chinese philosophy, I discovered Yin Yang, a symbol of harmony too, between two opposite energies. In my latest pictures I have combined these three sacred elements: circle, flower of life and yin yang.

I hope that the exhibition will ignite a spark of curiosity and exploration in each of you. “

It certainly has in my case and I have already spent some of my time in drawing sacred flowers of life and realizing how far back this symbol goes all the way to the ancient Egyptians and the Celts. It also fascinated Leonardo da Vinci who used it for his representations of Vitruvian man. Indeed, I only have to go to our local Romanesque church at San Cassiano to view the flower in all its mystical glory on the church’s façade, gaze at some of our garden flowers or even our teapot mat!

(I found using a mini-cd a very useful way of starting on a flower of life pattern…)

Yin Yang describes how opposite forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they may give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another. This is so true in all our daily lives for we may only fully experience joy if we have gone through grief, appreciate the silence if we have suffered the noise, blossom into pure love because we have known the torment of hate and endured death in order to envelop ourselves in the ecstasy of life.

I was fascinated by the way Morena has weaved the primordial symbols of the Flower of Life and Ying yang into her paintings. They become an integral part in the composition of her female portraits, in their ornamentation; indeed in their exaltation. As great composers like Bach use mathematical-geometrical formulae to ennoble their art and create something new like the Art of Fugue so Morena Guarnaschelli has been able to use the essential canons of these articles of sacred geometry to create works of extraordinary fulfilment and (what is so desperately need in our troubled times) communicate peace and undying love.