A PREVIEW OF NEW WORK
           Contemporary Ascensions          

"I’ve always been inspired by the writings of ecstatic beings like Hafiz, the 14th century
sufi poet-saint. In 2002, I had my own ecstatic experience which altered the course of my life.
In this series I honor that experience and all of the possibilities for human evolution."  
                                                 --Crystal Daigle   read more     

Untitled 2011, detail

     Contemporary Ascensions
Artist Statement  
 

"When I was three years old, my mother and I tumbled down a flight of very steep stairs. Half-way down, an angel grabbed me the way an eagle would, and saved me. I had vivid reoccurring dreams about this until I was in my teens. I can’t say I thought about angels very much as I got older and frankly I thought they were great in Renaissance paintings but hey, let’s be real. Although I felt a strong connection to the spiritual realm, angels seemed a bit “out there”. 
 

            But when I painted an Essence Portrait for my collector Pam Silchia,   which involved studying angels, I realized that there was a young girl in me who was still very excited and connected to angels and All-Things-Heaven. At that time, I was already making paintings about my visceral experience of gratitude and ecstasy – experiences that came to me through meditation, Somatic Experiencing and simply being present with nature. So it was natural to expand that series to the broader topic of heaven on earth: the state of ascension. Ascension, to me, is the state in which the individual consciousness is absorbed in the Ultimate Consciousness or what I like to call "God". It is a state of bliss, free of fear and craving.

            For this series I find great inspiration in the book “Ecstatic Confessions”, edited by Martin Buber, published in 1985 by Harper and Row. It is a collection of personal accounts describing ascension experiences from every part of the world, every faith and period in history. Here is a beautiful excerpt from
 Armelle Nicolas:

“God let a ray of his divine light shine into the depth of my heart.
 …I felt myself wholly clothed and surrounded as with a light. In the beginning terror came over me, but it lasted only a moment, for immediately my heart was again placed in surety and so changed that
I no longer knew myself, and I felt such a contentment of all desires that I
did not know whether I was on earth or in heaven.”

          --Armelle Nicolas, a poor, illiterate maid servant

                   France (1606-1671).

                                                                                                                           her body became (air) detail

       I found “Ecstatic Confessions” at a library sale in Guilderland, New York, in 2003 near my hometown, Schenectady. It was a crucial book for me because I recently had my own ecstatic experience and needed to hear about others. I was feeling very excited but also scared, since it was such a different state than what I was used to. The book became a close friend and helped me feel sane and extremely grateful.

        The most powerful awareness I’ve been given is that the ascended state is accessible to anyone. I hope my paintings reflect this and inspire viewers to access it for themselves."  
                                                                                                                ---Crystal Daigle