Jocelyn Akwaba-Matignon ‘Ixchel the Goddess of the moon‘
At the Exhibition
This is the individual Exhibition of the French Artist Jocelyn Akwaba-Matignon – called ‘Ixchel the Goddess of the moon‘. The event detail as followed, Exhibition: Ixchel the Goddess of the moon, Period: Feb 1st ~ Mar 25th, Place: L153 Gallery (서울시 서대문구 연희동 116-5), Contact: L153 Gallery (02-322-5827).
Exhibition Introduction
This is the 2nd individual Exhibition in Korea of the French Artist Jocelyn AKWABA MATIGNON whom 1st exhibition took place at the KF Gallery where he has been invited by the Korea Foundation, last year October, 2016.
Being in relation with diverse cultures and civilizations of the continents on earth, the artworks of the French Artist Jocelyn AKWABA MATIGNON which express the enlightened truthiness, is set of mysterious shapes, rare colorful and color combination. The artwork “Ixchel the Goddess of the moon”, main piece of the Exhibition, honors the goddess Ixchel, the symbol of abundance and fertility, to the Mayans. We can notice the artist mindset and interest in symbols, signs, myths, universe, life, etc…as well as in the other exhibited artworks.
THE ARTIST
Artist Painter living in Guadeloupe, born in 1961, titular from the Higher National Diploma of Visual Art, Jocelyn Akwaba-Matignon has realized, regularly for twenty-five years, exhibitions here and elsewhere, where it reveals his artistic research on the multiple facets of his origins. His triangular course (Europe-Africa-America) with the image of his logo, is a quest of Being, a research and a permanent questioning on the magic of the world and the mystery of the life.
Currently, it offers us an American crossing with the Native American part of our “Being Caribbean”. Jocelyn Akwaba-Matignon is a great reader, it also conducts research on sacred geometry, the myths of Mesoamerica, the Native American spirituality, the alchemical quest, symbolic numbers, the strength of Mother Earth, the mystery of the masks, on the unseen or revealed to our consciousness, the illusion of the visible world. He takes us into the space of the subtle and the unspeakable. THE SYMBOLISM OF HIS LOGO At first sight, his triangular logo symbolizes his journey between Europe, Africa and America. No doubt, too, it symbolizes water, female, the trinity, the three alchemical principles, the perception of the invisible.
HIS CHARACTER: “KIOUKAN”
His “Kioukan” (Who—Where—When) imaginary character with multiple members and a strange head, became in his painting mystical consciousness who questions about our place in space and time, and is used to reveal or hide what we call reality, appearances. It is WhoWhereWhen the WWW circulating on the web.
THE RESEARCHERS OF THE EXISTENCE by Jocelyn Akwaba-Matignon
« In lak’ech – A lak’em» - I am another you - You are another me
These are the words which are using for greeting each other in Maya Language, because first we have to greet each other before starting talking. Everything existing on Earth comes from the primordial silence. I am a « Researcher of the Existence », a walker towards the undiscovered, a maroon of the shortcuts, a curious person, of this magic world, who wish to discover the life and its mysteries.
Since 2003, I have been living and working on my native island, Guadeloupe, and my actual work focus is about Caribbean and South American Native Indians (Amerindians) regions. My Amerindians ancestors’ spirit is vibrating in my artworks. I am studying the meaning of the symbols of the Amerindians medicine wheel and the Maya Cosmogony. During a trip to Guatemala, I had a great experience and met great people which changed a lot my painting atmosphere. A new atmosphere about dreams, symbols and magic occurred….So, painting became and is a path to knowledge…
The whole Amerindians thought is a thank to the sun and a constant questioning about the meaning of the life and traditionally, the wheel of medicine is made with stones set up on the floor and the cardinal points refer to specific characteristics and areas. The four directions of the wheel of medicine refer the mother earth where human being is walking.
The East direction, in red, refers to the rising sun, the beginning of life. The north, white and violet, refers to the vital maturity and the cosmic energies. The west, in black, refers to the sun of the night, the invisible energies and the energies which transform. The South, Yellow, is the midday sun, the direction of the carrier of the light, the realization. The green is relating to the spirit of earth and the blue to the spirit of the sky. And, the « Feathered Serpent » is making the link between the sky (heaven) and the earth.
The wheel of medicine makes me find where I stand in this world, and makes my path meaningful as a plastic art painter researcher, and position myself in the space and the time. Through dreams, a character with several legs and arms, and unusual head came out. I called it Kioukan (Who? Where? When?). From that one, it became part of my artworks. Kioukan is questioning about where we stand in the universe, it is a character with several appearances, a mind, a mystical consciousness which questions. For the native English, it is the WhoWhereWhen, the WWW which is moving on the web.
Maya cosmogony is a set of fundamental stories and myths which tell about the creation of the world and the human being. Its symbolic is powerful and universal. While creating painting in this world, I am resonating with chants of our ancestors, anchoring my feet in the ground for my mind to fly towards the stars.
Maya cosmogony provide a large full sets of items in several areas; study of numbers, sacred geometry, The glyphs, fundamentals myths, shamanic view, medicine plants, bestiary, the stars, the calendars, the world of the dream, the mythology characters and gods. Almost like a story telling form, Kioukan appears in my painting artwork with Kukulkan, the feathered Serpent, Ixchbalanké, the man with the blowgun…The overall is full of symbols, the veiled and hidden parts have to be discovered.
I am progressing in the unknown area, towards a horizon which is always running away, untouchable, mysterious and magic. As soon as my fingers grasp the paintbrush, my mind is spreading out to thousands of light’s flashes, towards unknown planets, far away galaxies, waterfalls of color. How to explain with letters, words, sentences, the inexplicable, the unspeakable, and the mystery?
In fact, I am opening a small window….to try to understand the huge magic of this world. My artworks are small windows opened on this mystery. I have chosen to caress the magic of world through art, and the painting experience. I did not know that was impossible, so, I made it…and I offer it to you for sharing.
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