16 Mar Have we Forgotten Something? Ancient Wisdom and Symbols to Remember it By
It’s tough to spend
most of my life working to be known as a surf artist and then to make a complete change in style and subject matter.
It’s like starting all over again. But I’m not afraid of change.
Some of you have followed my work for decades. Most of you love the ocean and the idea of living a carefree lifestyle, and that’s what pulled you into my work.
I’ve painted surf inspired art for decades and now have transitioned into my new style w
hich incorporates energy, physics and mathematics.
But if you break down the surf art and the sacred geometry art, it’s actually not very different.
Both depict the awesome energy of nature and the essence of what it means to live a life well lived. They just show it in different ways.
Many of you are embracing the explorations I’m making but some look at my newer works with confusion.
Regardless of which camp you fall into, I appreciate you sticking by me on this journey. If I can lead you into some thought provoking ideas, even if you don’t resonate with them, I’ve done my job as an artist.
Below is an article I wrote for Awakenings Magazine this month. It explains why ancient symbols are a great fascination and why more and more people are diving into their meaning. I hope you enjoy it.
I would love to hear your take on these ideas – please leave a comment on this blog post with your thoughts – I read every comment and appreciate the feedback.
Life is good – Drew
Ancient Wisdom-Modern Art: Thought, Symbols and Concepts by Artist Drew Brophy
Article printed in Awakenings Magazine Feb/March 2017 Issue
There are timeless symbols that we are all familiar with, such as the cross, the Star of David, the vesica pisces and yin and yang. We see these symbols all the time, yet many don’t know their true meaning.
Many of these symbols originate from a time when people had a deep understanding of the way the Universe works, an understanding that we lost a long time ago.
The symbols that ancient artists created were describing ideas that they understood and wanted us to remember. But, it seems that over time people lost the true meanings and for the past few thousand years we have been rediscovering the truth.
Archimedes, Pythagoras, Plato, Da Vinci, Newton, Tesla, all were great thinkers who have led us back to discovering our true potential. I feel as an artist I am at the crossroads where art, math, and science meet.
We tend to think that everyone sees the world as we do, but most are missing the magnificence of what’s happening around us.
I love nature and surfing and this is where my journey began. I could always sense the subtle energy happening around me, capturing the natural patterns that make up our world.
A surfer becomes part of the rhythm of the sea, riding waves of energy created by storms that traveled from far across the globe. It is astounding that humans can navigate this massive amount of energy creating an experience that can only be described as pure joy.
Surfing led me to studying meteorology and the science of what makes these magical waves that I love to ride. I wanted to know more about what influences the weather and began studying solar dynamics and planetary physics, and that’s when I had an AHA moment that changed my view of everything.
The concepts I learned describe forces that we mostly cannot see but that affects matter that we can see every day. You can call these forces prana, ether, firmament, space, or energy. The Universe is obviously working in a very organized system.
That led me to studying theoretical physics and as I explored the ideas my artistic mind began to imagine the very difficult concepts being discussed. It led me to symbols, geometry, and mathematics. These are languages that we use to describe our world and how it works, and they are beautiful.
An Artist’s job is to expose these beautiful ideas and articulate them into a medium which others can understand.
My paintings are an attempt to understand the information that has been passed down for us.
It is strangely familiar to me. I’ve become more curious; what can we learn about ancient symbols, geometry, and mathematics, through art?
Maybe we will remember something mankind once knew and has long forgotten.
I feel we are ready and it is happening.