MAREA TRECERE

M. Eliade: "Moartea e primul mister care tulbura adanc constiinta

Existenta implica permanent trecerea unor PRAGURI: pragul zilei si al noptii, pragul anotimpurilor, pragul anului, pragul nasterii, al adolescentei sau al varstei adulte, pragul batranetii, pragul mortii si pragul vietii de dupa moarte, pentru cei ce cred in ea.

TRECEREA PRAGULUI semnifica patrunderea intr- o lume noua, iar pragul devine in acelasi timp hotarul, granita care distinge si opune doua lumi, dar, in mod paradoxal, si locul in care aceste lumi comunica, locul care face posibila trecerea din lumea profana in cea sacra.

PRAGUL(usa, poarta) indica solutia de continuitate a spatiului, fiind un simbol si vehicol al trecerii, un loc sacru ce constituie o ruptura in omogenitatea spatiului, o deschidere prin intermediul careia devine posibila trecerea dintr-o regiune cosmica in alta ( din Cer pe Pamant sau de pe Pamant in lumea in ferioara ) . Aceasta comunicare dintre Pamant si Cer este exprimata prin anumite simboluri, toate referindu-se la AXIS MUNDI: stalpul, arborele, scara, muntele, etc.

STALPUL- este o axa cosmica, deoarece, spatiul din jurul lui se ordoneaza, devine o "lume". Stilpul face posibila comunicarea cu domeniul celest, fara de care existenta umana nu ar avea sens, fiindca nu se poate trai fara o "deschidere spre transcedent", lipsa comunicarii riscand regresia spre haos.

BUCHETUL FUNERAR- ramura (simbol al vietii si al mortii), fiind o parte desprinsa din Arborele Cosmic, face posibila aflarea caii prin adancurile de nepatruns, din apele carora s-a ridicat Arborele Primordial. Prezenta sa la capataiul celui trecut in "regatul umbrelor" are menirea de a-l ajuta sa se orienteze in spatiul thanatic si sa treaca apele Haosului.

ARCA SOARELUI- cea care poarta astrul, in drumul sau prin cele doua lumi, si pluteste pe Apele Primordiale, in care coexista germenii oricarui inceput si premisele inevitabilului sfarsit, are semnificatia de vehicul psihopomp. ln ea se afla si casa, care poate fi asociata ideii de cosmos(Imago Mundi- Macrocosmos sau Corp omenesc- Microcosmos), prin proiectarea celor patru orizonturi (fatetele) pe care sunt reprezentate destinele noastre topite in "curgerea" si vesnica transformare universala, asemeni Soarelui ce moare in fiecare seara pentru a renaste in dimineata urmatoare.

UMBRA-face referire la semnificatia unui rit de "purificare," de trecere printr-un obiect taiat in doua sau printre doua ramuri, ideea fiind aceea ca se iese dintr-o lume anterioara pentru a se intra in alta noua. Prezenta graului simbolizeaza pe de o parte moartea naturii umane iar pe de alta invierea celor morti.

BATISTA CELUI DISPARUT- asemeni batistelor brodate (ce delimitau adolescenta de
maturitate) oferite de fete, flacailor, are menirea de a marca pragul trecerii din lumea aceasta in lumea de dincolo.

Omul religios traieste in doua feluri de timp - unul sacru si altul profan - cel sacru, care este si cel mai important, se prezinta sub aspectul paradoxal al unui timp circular, reversibil si recuperabil, un fel de etern prezent mitic, in care te reintegrezi periodic prin intermediul riturilor.
Existenta umana ajunge la plenitudine printr-o serie de rituri ale trecerii, printr-o serie de initieri succesive.

"Expozitia Dragai-Irina Popa se constituie intr-un mediu ambiant extraordinar de placut, in care fiecare dintre vizitatori poate sa-si creeze propriile imagini in legatura cu tema propusa.
Originalitatea demersului artistic consta in renuntarea la orice sablon, iar imaginatia debordanta a artistei face ca solutiile plastice sa fie inedite. Toate acestea si multe altele, ne fac sa meditam asupra existentei, dar sa ne si destindem in prezenta unor opere de adevarata valoare artistica."

Cotidianul "Ziua de Iasi", 22 iulie 1999

 

M. Eliade: "Death is the first mystery that deeply troubles human conscience"

The existence permanently implies the passing of new thresholds: day and night, seasons, the year, birth, adolescence or adulthood, old age, death and life after death, for those who believe in it.

THE PASSING OF THE THRESHOLD signifies the penetration into a new world; the threshold becomes at the same time the boundary that distinguishes and opposes two worlds, but paradoxically also the place in which these worlds communicate, the place that makes the passing from the profane world into the sacred one possible.

THE THRESHOLD (the door, the gate) indicates the continuity solution of space, a passage symbol and vehicle, a sacred place constituting a rupture in the homogeneity of space, an opening by which the passage from a cosmic region into the othee becomes possible (from Sky to Earth, or from Earth to the inferior world). This communication between Earth and Sky is expressed via certain symbols, all of them referring to the AXIS MUNDI: the pole, the tree, the stairway, the mountain, etc.

THE POLE - is a cosmic axis, as the space around it is ordered, becomes a "world". The pole makes possible the communication with the celestial plane, without which the human existence would not make sense, because life is not possible without an "opening towards the transcendent dimension", the lack of communication risking the regression to chaos.

THE FUNERARY BOUQUET- the branch (symbol of life and death), being a part of the Cosmic Tree, makes possible to find out the path by impenetrable depths, from the waters of which the Primordial Tree rose. Its presence at the side of the person departed in the "kingdom of shadows" has the meaning of helping him orient in the death space and pass the waters of Chaos.

THE ARK OF THE SUN- carrying the sun in its path through the two worlds, and floats on the Primordial Waters, in which coexist the germs of all beginnings and the premises of the inevitable demise, has the significance of a psychopomp vehicle. In it there is the house, which can be associated with the idea of cosmos (Imago Mundi - Macro-cosmos or Human body - Micro-cosmos), by the projection of the four horizons (facets) on which our destinies are represented, melted in the "flow" and eternal universal transformation, like the Sun that dies each night in order to be reborn the next morning.

THE SHADOW- refers to the significance of a "purification" rite, of passing through an object cut in two or through two branches, the idea being that one exits an anterior world in order to enter a new one. The presence of wheat symbolizes on one side the death of human nature, and on the other the resurrection of the dead.

THE DEMISED'S HANDKERCHIEF- like embroidered handkerchiefs (that delimited adolescence from adulthood), offered by girls to boys, has the meaning of marking the threshold of the passage from this world to the next.

The religious person lives in two kinds of time - a sacred and a profane one. The sacred one, also the most important, is presented in the paradoxical form of circular, reversible and recoverable time, a kind of eternal mythical present, in which to periodically reintegrate with the aid of rites.
Human existence reaches plenitude by a series of passage rites, a series of successive initiations.

"Draga-Irina Popa's exhibition is an extremely pleasant environment, in which each visitor can create his/her own images on the proposed theme.
The originality of the artistic endeavor consists in renouncing any cliché, and the artist's exuberant imagination makes the plastic solutions original. All these and many more make us meditate on existence, but also to relax in the presence of genuinely valuable works of art" -

"Ziua de Iasi" daily, July 22nd 1999