12. Szymon Dorabialski

Unbound tenets, 2023

stained glass, lead, timber, steel, gloss enamel

Transcription

My name is Szymon Dorabialski

The vision for this work, titled Unbound Tenets, was to imagine a church stripped bare of its walls with nothing but its stained-glass arch windows remaining.

Stained-glass has been used for centuries within places of worship, predominantly in western religions, to evoke visionary experiences, startling the senses with its inherent luminescence.

Of course, this would often be paired with dogmatic sermons that would then channel the attendees’ personal revelations and mould them to the language and doctrines of organised religion.

Here I hope to tear down the walls of the church’s dogmas, hierarchies and moral codes and focus on the transcendental experience. The foundation from which religion emanated, rather than vice versa. The symbolism embedded within the arch windows are some-what based on my own encounters with out-of-body experiences and transcendental epiphanies that lead to trajectory of inquiry into realms of altered states of consciousness.

My practice delves into various interpretations of the phenomenon across diverse points through religion, mysticism, Slavic folklore, art, architecture and psychedelics.

This exploration seeks to unravel the recurring motifs of certain symbols, shapes, and materials throughout history.

Symbols that have persistently signified the ineffable sensations of transcendence, death and ascension.

I have wrestled with this enigmatic concept of the 'divine'. What truly unfolds when we traverse into dimensions that exist beyond our immediate reality?

Could these experiences be manifestations of neural rewiring, responses to traumatic events, ancestral echoes imprinted in our genetics, glimpses into alternate dimensions within the multiverse, interactions with deities or encounters with aliens?

What is it that lies beyond the thresholds of our everyday comprehension? The range of speculation is boundless.

More about this work

This installation, ‘Unbound Tenets’, delves into the essence of religion liberated from its conventional confines—its dogmas, hierarchies, and moral constructs. The focus lies instead on the ethereal, visionary dimensions of spirituality, exploring the transcendental encounters that have underscored human existence. The historical prevalence of stained glass within places of worship has functioned as a conduit, eliciting profound visions and enabling individuals to participate in an ascendant journey toward the apparent divine.

This body of work contemplates the intrinsic nature of transcendental experiences—a foundation from which organised religion has emanated, rather than vice versa. The symbolism embedded within the arch windows is rooted in my personal encounters with out-of-body experiences. These encounters have engendered a trajectory of inquiry into the realms of altered consciousness. My practice delves into multifaceted interpretations of these phenomena across diverse realms, through religion, mysticism, Slavic folklore, art, architecture and psychedelics. This exploration seeks to unravel the recurring motifs of certain symbols, shapes, and materials throughout history—symbols that have persistently signified the ineffable sensations of transcendence, death and ascension.

Throughout this personal journey, I have wrestled with the enigmatic concept of the 'divine.' What truly unfolds when we traverse into dimensions that exist beyond our immediate reality? Could these experiences be manifestations of neural rewiring, responses to traumatic events, ancestral echoes imprinted in our genetics, glimpses into alternate dimensions within the multiverse, interactions with deities, or encounters with extra-terrestrial entities? The range of speculations concerning the psychological and spiritual underpinnings of these occurrences is boundless.

These visualisations allude to the tantalising glimpses into the sublime, dimensions far grander than our ordinary cognitive scope. ‘Unbound Tenets’ is an invitation to traverse this profound inquiry, challenging preconceived notions of spirituality and asking viewers to contemplate the expanses that lie beyond the thresholds of our everyday comprehension.