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GENIUS LOCI

"Ring the bells that still can ring

   Forget your perfect offering

   There is a crack in everything

   That's how the light gets in ... "


        — Leonard Cohen [ "Anthem" ]


 
Baby Chartreux © Caroline Maby
Zenji 禅師 the little Chartreux cat, plays in the studio with a string which was used to frame GENIUS LOCI (in the background) Photo © Caroline Maby

MESSAGE


During the sweet period of introspection of the end of last year, I was enjoying the good vibes radiating from my GENIUS LOCI painting placed on a console in my living room.


... not for very long.


A loud crash was heard in the house.

I thought for a second that a chandelier had come loose!


Zenji, my baby Chartreux cat who had managed to climb and sneak behind the canvas, while pushing it, knocked over a large glass tealight holder. He then tipped the painting over, which flew until it landed on the broken glass.


And it tore two inches.


Disaster or gift?



 

THANGKA


I sometimes choose to mount certain canvases on a special frame that I make. I was inspired by Tibetan thangkas to create this new type of framing that I like very much because the creations seem to float in the air.


These frames, each time custom-made, allow me to stretch the canvas (or paper) and keep it suspended, while preserving its raw quality. They are also removable, which allows me to facilitate the transport of the whole thing, especially for shipments abroad: everything fits in a tube.


Genius Loci © Caroline Maby
The attachment points on the back of the canvas have been reinforced. | Photo © Caroline Maby

GENIUS LOCI is painted on cotton canvas. I chose this support, which is thinner and more delicate than linen canvas, because it suited the subject better.

Now this is the first time I have stretched this cotton on this type of frame and when assembling it, I doubted this assembly unless I reinforced the back of the canvas. This is always what I do when I mount a paper on these frames: I first paste them on canvas.


I had thought about it.


I hadn't done it.


In conscience, knowing full well that with this doubt - the fear that the whole thing was too fragile - I would never have agreed to deliver it as it was. Remembering that I had been wrong or had procrastinated when adding the reinforcements, my little Zenji invited me to correct this error and above all to observe a beautiful phenomenon.


So I added a counter-canvas to each stitch to ensure the solidity of the whole.

As for the tear, I restored it with such care that I can't find it anymore... even with my nose on it.



 

EMPOWERMENT

Some of my crystal alchemy bowls | Photo © Caroline Maby
Some of my crystal alchemy bowls | Photo © Caroline Maby

One of the practices that encourages my creativity is the use of alchemical crystal bowls. I have a small collection of them with different energies and virtues that I play with regularly by setting an uplifting intention, sometimes by combining it with the singing of mantras.

These precious bowls are made exclusively by Crystal Tones™ in the USA and their lightweight structure is made of 99.995% pure crystal infused with precious stones, metals and minerals.


One of Crystal Tones' special series is called Morph™ and concerns very special alchemical bowls: they have suffered an accident, often during firing, and are cracked or broken. Crystal Tones reworks them and they become much more than repaired bowls. From the accident, they emerge more beautiful and more powerful: their sounds and vibrations are extraordinarily healing.

Crystal Morph™ describes a path of experience: wounded and healed bowls carry the frequency of their journey of resilience, embracing perfection through imperfection.


In the same spirit, the Japanese art of Kintsugi — literally継ぎ, " golden joint " — is a philosophy that is part of that of wabi-sabi* itself inspired by Zen. Kintsugi consists of repairing broken porcelain with lacquer covered with gold powder. The unique and "forever" visible fracture of a resealed ceramic then reveals an unprecedented beauty and a sublime potential for renewal. By magnifying the breakage and its repair, the history of the object is fully shown with attention paid to the concepts of imperfection and impermanence.


Wounded Cheetah
The healed cheetah retains a scar — unique — that makes visible a bit of her past and adds to her majesty.

The art therapy I practice is based on the healing process of the wounded drawing (see ELOVUTION).* The parts of the drawing "that are suffering" are recognized, embraced and transmuted. The impact of a literal repair of the drawing (cutting out the parts of suffering and assembling together healed parts vitalizing the recognized qualities) on the three bodies is notable: beyond emotional healing, a physical, mental and spiritual restoration becomes possible.


Abandoning one's preconceptions (my trauma is unique, irreparable...), bearing witness to what is (welcoming and contemplating the fracture), taking part (transforming) — the 3 principles of the ZEN PEACEMAKERS — also make sense on this path of resilience.


Crystal Morph™, Kintsugi, Art therapy, Chiron (the wounded healer of the zodiac inspired by mythology), a tattoo on a breast removal scar... many practices remind us of it, each in their own way: beyond being markers of our history, breakups and their healing are initiations.

They encourage reflection on our own wounds and how we manage to transmute them, without hiding them, to turn them into strengths.



* “ Wabi-sabi is a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. It is a beauty of things modest and humble. It is a beauty of things unconventional..” [Leonard Koren, Wabi-Sabi for the use of artists, designers, poets & philosophers, Vannes, Sully, coll.]

** ELOVUTION: www.elovution.org



 

GENIUS LOCI or “The Genius of the Place” is intentionally a protective canvas for space.


"The Cheetah is the epitome of the solar forces at work. The sun doesn't shine onto the Cheetah... it shines from inside this great creature and expands outward to brighten the universe."

[ The Wild Unknown, Animal Spirit guidebook by Kim Krans ] 


As a symbol of solar force, action, achievement and masculine energy, this painting embodies the vitality of a strong, bright and equanimous Guardian in the room where it is exhibited. It will vibrate even more efficiently if the wall on which it is hung is oriented towards the geographical direction of Mont Saint Michel, France.* This alignment with the very protective Archangel Michael activates it.



  1. Mont Saint-Michel is in the background of the painting | 2. The canvas remounted on its thangka frame | 3. The Guardian of the Place | 4. Detail | Photos © Caroline Maby


This new story in the GENIUS LOCI journey was a unique experience.

I actually noticed, without really understanding it, that the canvas had become "empowered" through its healing journey. It vibrates more strongly, the colors are deeper, the protective energy is tangible and its presence seems even more solid and gentle at the same time. An unwavering and quiet force emanates from it.

There is no doubt that it will find its place in a space where this enrichment will make sense to its lover.


My little feline confronted the big cheetah. It is extremely common for my cats to interact with my studio work to help me deepen a reflection or induce a creative orientation. (I will discuss how in a future article.) Doing and undoing (the trace and the repentance), doing nothing, contemplating or abandoning... are constitutive of the creative process.

Zenji encouraged me here to see how an external, radical and discouraging phenomenon could become an uplifting starting point. Above all, he showed me how the faults that became strengths were perceptible by each of the five senses. I was convinced of this for sensitive beings, I discovered it in painting.


☆ Thank you little Zenji. You are a GENIUS LOCI too (Genius of the Place)!



* The ART*STROLOGY page presents how the cosmos can directly interact with local space (astrolocality) alignment activates it: https://www.carolinemaby.art/en/astrologie





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