LAMENTATIONS

There is something to be understood about pain that is seldom realized in the midst of it. Suffering is almost a science or at least a component within the system of human experience. It has a necessary place in life, meaning life cannot operate without it. Yet ironically, when suffering comes in we feel as though the system of life is broken. Few have mastered the art of suffering and can transmute their strife into something pleasant in the moment.

It is commonly believed that the true meaning of alchemy and the obscurity of everything associated with it is the science of transmuting inner states of mind and spirit, rather than material elements such as lead to gold. Scholars on the subject of alchemy often refer to it as “The Spiritual Science, The Royal Art, or The Royal Science”. Transmuting lead into gold does not seem very spiritual, but the metaphor surely does. There is a beautiful quote by Marcus Aurelius, the famed Roman Emperor and Stoic philosopher, that reads: “If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.”

With Lamentations, the isolated experiences of pain are captured in various ways: through color, brush stroke, pose, composition, and various combinations of each. As all who live are well aware, pain has many faces and even more colors. The anguish, despair, sorrow, regret, frustration, distress, and every other identifying title for pain that can be described is present in this work. The part of pain that we find ourselves most fascinated with is the necessity of it. Because of this necessity, there is so much to be learned or practiced through pain in all of our lives. Lord Byron said, “Adversity is the first path to truth.” We all must suffer to understand. Those who have understanding due to pain are well-equipped to endure the next round, for they know the necessity of it and the great destination it leads to.

There is no pleasure without pain, no happiness without sorrow. It is the polarity and the duality of nature that governs life. This is the system of experience. The poles create balance, and balance is the very midpoint between them. This balance may be the alchemical art, the spiritual science, or the course of transmutation. Duality is omniscient and omnipresent. Without pain, we cannot conceive a meaning for pleasure. Without pleasure, we cannot conceive a meaning for pain; They are mutually inclusive.

We lament, so sooner or later we do not have to.