Daleet Leon – Reflections on a Reflective Universe
I often meditate outdoors. I listen and observe and try to sense beyond what is immediately available to my senses – each day has its own Being. It occurred to me one day as I was meditating, how eventful and full of living Life is, and considering how much is going on at any given moment, with all creatures and processes big and small doing their thing, how silent it all is. At least to the human mind, there is no perceivable sign that reflects things as they truly are, the incredible machinations which are happening on every level all the time. It is the same thing with the reality of Mind- it is full, it is alive, yet only evident to itself, perhaps not even that…
I tend to think that “dream reality” is closer in its nature to true reality (I’m thinking about the fluidity, the primacy of consciousness and the non-linearity of time amongst other things). Sometimes I find myself thinking (with regards to really trivial things) “how is this possible?” I mean… what are the chances in such an infinite, magical and epic universe such a specific thing, and yes, so trivial and small a thing- could be possible? I am aware it’s a strange thought, big things rely on smaller things, clearly, but it’s something else that confounds me. I think it comes from a deep bewilderment at how the twosome of Magic and Mundaneness can co-exist and moreover, lean on each other in such a peculiar way… the problem is not with Reality as this seems to be working just fine, the point is how this duality fits into one mind and into a consistent vision of the world.
Everything seems so full of meaning and implications, yet so seemingly coincidental and contingent … so are things meaningful or meaningless? Are we pawns on a chessboard or are we the players? Both I tend to think…but in different scales and in various games and all at the same time…. The answers are essentially a delicate calibration and a balance of opposite concepts in one’s mind, and possibly in the very consistency of vision is the dynamic interplay of these opposites.
I have a sense that actual reality is very abstract and it’s only human Reason and language that shape it in the way that most of us know and recognize as “Reality”. My work reflects this thinking- forms flow onto one another like water, like dream. I work from the unconscious, mostly without any inkling as to where the painting is leading – it is journeying into the depths under the material surface, finding and shaping the pictorial space according to some internal map. Difficult to explain in words, because what unravels is a multi-dimensional reality that originates in some transcendent place in and outside of myself, but also triggers personal memories and meaningful abstractions that go far beyond their visual manifestation, at times they feel like living entities.
That magic of perception and dream and reflection is something that I want to give to the viewer as well, but it obviously depends on one’s willingness to move into the illusory space and spend some time doing just that- things then really come to life. It is another reflection of the idea that truth is something that is found in depth. Truth to me is key to everything that is good, but most importantly it embraces complexity and polarity, it doesn’t exclude imagination, subjectivity and dream, as these are the ways to illuminate one’s mind to oneself. This principle of knowing oneself- or “meeting the shadow” in Jungian terms- is the most important gateway….
I’ve been based in South Wales since 2001 (I live in the ancient and lovely town of Kidwelly and I paint in Swansea) originally I am from Israel.
Find Daleet here: www.secondearthchrysalis.com
