An exhibition entitled Remembering Myth was recently featured (September 6th to October 3rd, 1997) at the Midland Gallery in Montclair, New Jersey, in which painter Christina Saj made a personal visual statement about her belief in the importance of myth in modern society. The late Joseph Campbell, a leading authority on mythology, believed that modern Western society is in crisis because of its lack of credence in myths and the rituals that accompany them. According to Campbell, the proper role of the artist is the preservation of the mythologization of the world, that is, the attempt to somehow aid society in its unending quest to come to grips with inexplicable mysteries and natural phenomena such as the origins of the world, the sources of misfortune and the unknown of the afterlife. Despite an increased dependence on science for rational explanations of almost all aspects of human experience, there remains a need to reconsider these issues from a supernatural point of view. For example, one can conceivably explain the creation of the universe using the "big bang" theory, the subject of one of Saj's paintings, but the theory cannot address the possibility of divine intervention as the catalyst for the explosion. Through the media of myths and her beautiful paintings, Saj offers us alternative ways of thinking about such cosmic issues.

It may seem strange that an artist such as Saj, whose artistic philosophy is deeply rooted in the Byzantine tradition of icon-painting, should turn to mythology in search of suitable subject matter. She has not chosen this theme with the intention of simply illustrating myths from a variety of ancient or primitive cultures for their own sake. Rather, something universal is being sought through the exploration of these myths. By interpreting myths from different sources using a common visual vocabulary, Saj has translated her thoughts on the subject of myth and its modern significance into the language of painting. The realization that all cultures are involved in the search for spiritual meaning in human existence has led Saj to move beyond her habitual parameters of the Christian belief system in her work. The works in her most recent exhibition can be divided into three categories, one of which features paintings with Christian themes. The second category deals with the Greco-Roman mythological tradition, while the third loosely encompasses paintings that depict generic myths and myths belonging to other cultures, as well as broad spiritual concepts.

Christian subjects take on the quality of myth insofar as they seek to explain mysteries that are basic to the experience of all mankind. For example, the story of original sin offers a Christian explanation for mankind's suffering on earth. Saj deals with this subject in a painting entitled Adam and Eve. This work is conceived as a diptych, with Adam occupying the left panel and Eve the right. The Tree of Knowledge is bifurcated by the gap between the two panels. Although foliage is suggested by the green and blue spiked forms rising from the bottom of the composition, these shapes could also be interpreted as the fires of hell licking at the feet of the newly sinful couple. Adam's rib cage is a multi-colored tangle of bones that could no more convincingly connote confusion and bewilderment. As punishment for ignoring God's prohibition, the pair is on the verge of being cast out of eternal Paradise. The dire consequences of this transgression for mankind are well-known within the context of Judeo-Christian tradition. The ancient Greek explanation for the presence of suffering among men may not be quite as familiar to us and is the subject of a painting by Saj called Pandora's Box. Pandora, the first woman, was created to punish Prometheus, a god who championed the cause of mortal man against the wishes of Zeus, ruler of the gods. Pandora was presented to Epimetheus, brother of Prometheus, accompanied by a sealed jar, or box. Insatiable curiosity led Pandora to open the box and release a shower of misery on mankind, the apple of Prometheus's eye. Thus Pandora turned out to be the source of all evil for man, as was Eve, according to the story of original sin.

Within the context of the pursuit of a more universal spiritual consciousness, these paintings and the stories on which they are based take on a modified significance. It is not important that one is Christian and the other ancient Greek, but that they are parallel examples of universal wonder about the origins of man (and woman) and the reasons for the existence of suffering on earth. Interestingly, Saj does not stress the negative or evil aspects of either story in her paintings based on these subjects. For example, the infamous serpent is conspicuously absent in Adam and Eve. In Pandora's Box, the artist resists the temptation to anthropomorphically represent the ills of the world escaping the box in the form of serpents and monsters, as many artists before her have done in their interpretations of the same subject. Scattered across the surface of the painting are tiny colored shapes and splattered paint that may very well represent the dispersed evils released by Pandora. In the center of this small work painted on glass in somber colors, we see a series of shining gold shapes that may very well represent hope, which was left behind when Pandora finally clamped the lid back on the box. The decorative gem-like beauty of this little painting further deflects the viewer's thoughts from any ugliness suggested by the subject matter, focusing instead on whatever good might be present.

Since Greek and Roman myths are somewhat familiar to most of us living in the Western world, it makes good sense to prompt a recollection of the general subject of mythology by way of the classical gods. Much of our knowledge regarding classical mythology comes to us in the form of epic poetry widely accepted to be the work of Homer, who was also the ancient Greeks' source of mythological information. Saj pays tribute to him in an elegant, shimmering composition painted on steel in shades of green, blue and silver entitled Homerus – The Bard. An abstract faceless "portrait" of the poet occupies the upper left corner of the painting. Disembodied hands reach up from the lower right towards a radiating orb. The enigmatic setting seems to mythologize the very existence of the poet. Beginning with ancient times, the classical mythological heritage left by Homer and others has provided successive generations of artists with an especially rich source of subject matter to draw upon, most notably during the Renaissance. We are quite accustomed to personified, usually idealized, visual images of the gods that have come to us by way of the ancients themselves. Favoring abstraction, Saj diverges significantly from these established images of the gods in order to include them in her vision of a universal mythological symbolism.

Apollo, Poseidon, and Vulcan are works included in Saj's new collection of paintings that depict the gods with attributes or against backgrounds suggestive of their specific functions in the classical pantheon. They are frontal, abstract, monumental representations, conceived in a similar fashion to the manner in which she creates icons. As with her icons, there are no faces, allowing them to more easily be experienced as religious symbols. These paintings are not accidentally related to icons, as they also are meant to be considered as spiritual objects, a means to enter the mythological world they represent. Both Vulcan and Poseidon are painted on wood, like traditional icons. The Roman god Vulcan is the god of fire and volcanoes, thus Saj appropriately centers him against a background of fiery shades of orange and red. Poseidon, on the other hand is the Greek god of the sea and therefore is shown as an abstract figure riding on a sea of stylized waves within a circular vessel. He is positively identified by the trident he always carries with which he wields his shattering power. Apollo is painted on aluminum in hot colors befitting his association with light and the sun. His head appears ringed by a gold halo, recalling formal analogies to Christian art.

Green Goddess is a painting which ostensibly refers to a specific deity but actually represents a generic goddess invented by the artist in order to evoke the concept of mother earth, associated with fruitfulness and responsible for the bounty of the soil. The figure has been conceived in terms of the most basic geometric shapes—a circular form resting upon two thin vertical rectangular elements—and has been placed against a colorful decorative background. The circle itself is adorned with a radiating grid pattern accented by light blue and fluorescent green flecks and is surrounded by an aureole of shimmering gold. A halo, or an emanation of light around the head of a deity, was used to connote power by the ancient Greeks and Romans and was later adopted by the Christians to distinguish sacred individuals. Saj has used the device to lend her imagined goddess an air of consecrated authority and to link her with both Christian and classical traditions. A painting that is thematically related to Green Goddess is Golden Harvest, a patently abstract work on steel in which triangular forms painted in a variety of warm colors such as yellow, gold, orange, and pink overlap and intersect around a circular central focal point. Many primitive cultures depended on the fertility of the land for survival and consequently participated in rituals that they believed would contribute to a successful harvest. Ancient rituals of thanksgiving connected to the harvest have been transformed by Jewish and Christian tradition and are still celebrated today as religious "feast" days.

The circle is a symbol that is present in many of Saj's paintings, either incidentally or as the focus of a composition. This is not surprising, as the circle is considered to be one of the great primordial images of mankind and a very powerful universal spiritual symbol. It is a symbol of eternity and totality, whether in time or in space. It has no beginning and no end. It represents the cyclical nature of time and the recurrence of the seasons. It has the magical property of self-renewal. Magic Circles is a small painting in which concentric colored circles form a curvaceous pattern across the surface of the glass on which they are painted. The title of this painting is literally descriptive, although one could speculate on the exact nuance of meaning implied by the adjective "magic." Perhaps the magic is inherent in the symbol itself. One thinks of the circular boundary marked by the druids at Stonehenge to contain spiritual power, or the magician who places himself within a circle in order to bring powers into play that are absent outside of the circle. The issue of magic brings into play the topic of shamanism, the most ancient of mankind's religions. Shamans are individuals in tribal societies who are believed to have great mystical powers and can communicate with the spirit world while in a trance-like state achieved through a ritual dance. Shamans bring back knowledge from the realm of the gods that help solve problems pertinent to his tribe's well-being. For example, they are best known for their ability to heal, in which capacity they are sometimes referred to as "medicine men." The Dance of the Shaman, humorously subtitled Tango, symbolically represents the ritual that enacts the shamanistic myth. In this painting Saj depicts the dance as a "tango" performed by two bone-like elements, a symbol that recurs in several other paintings in this collection. The bones emit the aura of something primal, basic to mankind. The shaman may have a prophetic vision about the future of his tribe, an event which may be the subject of the painting titled Prophecy. In this painting, bones are rising up against a black background that occupies the bottom half of the composition, toward a circular shape that appears to be a conduit to another realm. Movement from obscurity to resolution through the power of the circle is suggested by this painting.

A painting such as Prophecy is a loaded image because its symbolism can easily be interpreted within any mythological or spiritual context. The open-ended title allows the viewer to draw upon his or her own personal point of reference in determining meaning. Many of Saj's works are titled in a manner as to encourage such interaction. Saj's intention in presenting these paintings as a coherent body of work is to emphasize the parallels and overlap between religions and cultures of the world. By looking back at ancient times and primitive peoples through the vehicle of mythology, we move closer to a recognition of what is basic to our existence. By rendering the paintings in a modern visual vocabulary and employing innovative materials such as industrial glass and steel plates mounted on magnets, Saj emphasizes the continued significance of these issues for mankind in the twentieth century. To this day we struggle to make sense of cosmic issues of universal human concern, whatever our religious backgrounds may be. Further information about Christina Saj's most recent exhibition, as well as previous exhibitions, can be found online at http://www.artonline.net. The artist also welcomes inquiries and comments by e-mail at chryssa@cybernex.net. Studio visits can be arranged by appointment.

Bound Brook, New Jersey
October, 1997