FRAMEWORK, 2021
Framework noun /ˈfreɪm.wɜːk/
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A supporting structure around which something can be built. ‘The steel framework supports the copper covering.’
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A system of rules, ideas, or beliefs that is used to plan or decide something. ‘The U.S. Constitution established a broad framework of government.’
These works were inspired by the frames that surround us in our art studio and by the rules that surround us in our everyday lives. Framework is a noun /ˈfreɪm.wɜːk/ defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as “a supporting structure around which something can be built” but also as “a system of rules, ideas, or beliefs that is used to plan or decide something.”
We are living in a world of ever-changing frameworks and frames. We are self-creating systems of rules, we are creating various frameworks to help and support our development, yet we are also creating frames, rigid structures, considered "normal," that surround us, which sometimes help us while other times rather confuse us.
I have said normal, but there is no such thing as "normal." Normal is like moral. Normal and moral may very well vary in space and time, and the morals of the different areas or countries in our society can be very different, sometimes even completely contradictory; hence, there is no unity in having the exact same understanding for everyone.
About one hundred years ago, women were not allowed to work, attend school, or vote; there were no equal rights for women and men, and it was considered "normal," while in the time of the caveman, the family was a very cooperative unit, the work was interchangeable, and women could join the hunting expeditions while the men made clothing at home.
A considerable milestone in achieving homosexual law reform and equality for the LGBT was reached in the UK only in 1967, and even nowadays, there are merely 30 countries around the world where same-sex marriage is legal. Long before, in ancient Rome, Roman men were free to enjoy sex with other males without a perceived loss of masculinity or social status; and even if debatable, there are proves that the ancient Egyptians accepted same-sex relationships (the paintings of Nyankh-khnum and Khnum-hotep, or the statue of two women, Idet and Ruiu, depicted as a married couple).
We as humans are an ineffable combination of energy and consciousness, with consciousness being the director that orchestrates and guides the conversion of energy into form and of form into energy. Each human being, each portion of energy is brilliantly gifted with a natural, innate creativity that seeks to fulfil its own potential in all possible variants.
When we are willing to consciously observe human “normal” behaviour in space and time, we are seeing and analysing everything from the present framework or collection of frameworks we choose to live in, from each individual present self, from each individual “now” pool of beliefs. However, each individual system of beliefs is dynamic, it adjusts and adapts over time, always in search of balance, in search of fulfilment, always in search of the one Self as God created us. And searching for our one Self is searching for God.
I believe it is safe to say that what “humans” ultimately want is peace, love, love that transcends ourselves, and fulfilment, at times being more or less aware that our own fulfilment expands the creative potentials of others and adds massively to the existence of all others.
In achieving your dreams and purposes, you sometimes have visions and ideas, while other times you just find out what you want by learning what you don’t want. The only way out of any situation is to become aware of your beliefs, aware of your own conscious thoughts, and acquainted with your own limiting beliefs and frameworks. You must walk among them. You must look through the frameworks that you have yourself created - the organised frames and ideas upon which you have arranged your experience.
Once you are aware of them, you can change your beliefs so that you bring them more in line with the kind of reality you want to experience and become the person you consciously choose to be. Once you clearly see into your own minds, once you first deconstruct our thoughts without judging them, you can then consciously reconstruct and rebalance the frameworks of your beliefs in a way that will ease your fulfilment, in a way that will bring you love, peace, and the ecstasy of life.
Now, during the analysis of the frameworks of your thoughts, even if you are one Self, you may perceive yourself as two: good and bad, loving and hateful, mind and body. The notion - this sense of being divided into opposites - can cause tension and lead to attempts to reconcile irreconcilable elements of this self-perception. You have tried many solutions without success. The polarities inside you will never be compatible. But one does exist.
To be saved, you have to understand that reality and illusion are incompatible, regardless of your efforts, tools, or perspective on the issue. Truth and illusion simply cannot be reconciled. Until you come to terms with this, you will keep trying to achieve an endless list of impossible goals; a pointless sequence of time and energy expenses, optimism, and uncertainty, each one as futile as the next one and as certain to fail as the next.
Problems having no meaning cannot be handled within the framework in which they are set. Two conflicting selves could not be reconciled, and good and evil had no common ground. The self you made can never be your one Self, nor can your one Self be split in two and remain what it is and must always be. A mind and a body cannot exist simultaneously; therefore, make no attempt to reconcile the two because one rejects the other's reality. If you are physical, your mind is removed from your self-concept since it has no place to be truly part of you. If you are a spirit, the body must be irrelevant to your reality.
The spirit uses the mind as a means to find its one Self expression. The mind that serves the spirit is at peace and packed with joy. Its force is derived from spirit and serves its purpose well. Yet the mind might experience itself as separate from the spirit and mistakenly perceive itself within a body, identifying with the body. Without its function, it lacks calm, and peace and happiness are alien to its thoughts.
However, without spirit, the mind cannot think, for it has denied its source of strength and views itself as helpless, weak, and vulnerable. Dissociated from its function, it believes it is alone and separate, hiding in the body's flimsy support. It must reconcile unlike and like, as it believes this is its purpose.
Do not waste time on this since salvation can't make illusions real nor solve a problem that does not exist. Your thoughts are stored in both your one Self and God's minds. Salvation is a thought you share with God, who accepts it and answers it in your name. Salvation is among the thoughts that your Self holds dear and cherishes for you.
NOTES
The series comprises 26 installations.
Medium: cotton mountboard on artist's frames