First Swirlings by Marc Tolud, Acrylic on Canvas
Regular price
$8,000.00
Sale
48 x 56
Original Artwork
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“First Swirlings”
Marc Tolud’s works embody visionary ideas about the more obscure spaces of our mind, the border regions of our consciousness. His compositions intend to create places that look otherworldly and bewitching to the viewer, yet strangely familiar.
Drawing from a variety of inspirations such as the Jewish Kabbalah, illustrated works of medieval scholars and oriental philosophies Marc Tolud’s paintings can almost be seen as parables about the infinite possibilities of our modern battered brain. Meditation, trance, dreams, the concept of memory and melancholy are the framework for the works’ subjects.
As a self-taught artist Marc Tolud has developed a signature style and a visual vocabulary, where he mixes human figures with mysterious imagery enveloped by rather abstract landscapes. Painting is a way for him to reflect upon his psychological experience and to engage in a personal journey of discovery that speaks to universal themes.
Originally from the Netherlands, the artist has worked in splendid isolation in many places all over the world, where gradually a body of work emerged. Marc has lived in India, Bangladesh, Belgium, Germany, Indonesia, UK and often travels to the Negev desert for contemplation and to work in its utter silence, heat and mysterious light.
He currently lives and works in New York City.
DESCRIPTION “First Swirlings”
Inspiration for this work is the concept of the Tree of Life - the painting “First Swirlings” is a reference to the Jewish “Book of Splendour” (Zohar), representing a lower branch or stage within the Tree with its ten ‘fruits’ of self-realisation, or even enlightenment.
Where the Tree of Life usually is depicted in its entirety and with a sacred geometry, Marc Tolud’s painting focuses on just one detail of the Tree of Life.
Suggesting a metaphorical climb into the Tree, it imagines the swirls, chaos and dissolution of thoughts that first appear when searching for mental solace through meditation.
An anthropomorphic figure materialises from the left giving the impression of an attempt to traverse the whirling, stormy landscape. Others are in a meditative pose unaware of the looming presence behind them that will eventually overwhelm them, finishing their altered state of consciousness.
The colour patterns can be interpreted as phosphenes - the colours and shapes that float around when we close our eyes during meditation - but certain shapes can also be seen referring to fertility, the merging of bodies into a non-defined entity and in this particular context as thoughts whirling through our ‘monkey mind’.
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Marc Tolud’s works embody visionary ideas about the more obscure spaces of our mind, the border regions of our consciousness.