Fire and Shadow: Spirituality in Contemporary Australian Art - Tapa dura

The concept of 'spirituality' conveys more than formal religious faith or belief - it relates to the sacred and transcendental dimensions of human consciousness and touches directly on the fundamental mystery which underlies the process of creation. Artists relate to this mystery in different ways - sometimes within the context of a religious tradition, such as Christianity or Buddhism, but more often in an instinctual, non-doctrinal way. Some artists relate their spirituality to the potentialities of human awareness - a sacred potentiality perhaps only partially glimpsed but innate to all human beings - while others see the spirit as an extension of the conscious mind. Others find the sacred within the earth, within rites of passage and transformation, and within archetypal mythologies from both East and West.
Fire and Shadow is neither a history nor an overview but focuses on a selection of established and mid-career Australian artists - among them painters, sculptors, installation artists and practitioners of mixed media - who are incorporating spiritual elements and themes in their work.