Stonington Gallery Presents
The Journey Hib Sabin
© Stonington Gallery 2012 All carvings and sketches by Hib Sabin Photographs by Ashley Genevieve All excerpts from: Homer’s The Odyssey Translated by Robert Fagles Penguin Classics, Deluxe Edition 1996
s a writer takes a reader on a journey, the same is true for an A artist. Hib Sabin’s November 2012 solo exhibit at Stonington Gallery is as literary and cerebral as it is artistic and spiritual— the very dichotomy embodied by Sabin himself. The Journey presents powerful and complex sculptures based on episodes from Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey. Sabin’s familiar and beloved spirit helpers—Raven, Owl, Eagle, Bear, and Mountain Lion—appear this time on the Homeric stage, acting out ancient lines in surprising and poignant ways. Themes relative to both the ancient writer and the contemporary artist appear in the spotlight: transformation through hardship and ingenuity; transition through new states of existence; the search for self and safety; and the reality and acceptance of death. The Journey is an appropriate theme for an artist who is both scholar and shamanic practitioner. Sabin’s love of mythology and spirituality takes him on extensive travels and brings him in contact with many cultures throughout the world. But these travels are not merely physical: Sabin plumbs spiritual depths and invokes the same in the viewers of his art, who time and time again experience the palpable and impactful energy running beneath the surface of his carvings. With The Journey we look forward to admiring and connecting with Sabin’s potent imagery, and to once again watch the reactions of viewers as they find solace and joy in unexpected places. Rebecca Blanchard & Nancy Davenport Co-Directors of Stonington Gallery
“Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns driven time and again off course once he had plundered the hallowed heights of Troy.”
Thus commences, in Homer’s the Odyssey, the saga of Odysseus’
journey home from Troy to Ithaca. Having neglected to pay homage to the sea god Poseidon before starting out, Odysseus and his seafaring crew are blown off course by the vengeful god of the wine-dark sea to experience a series of perilous adventures which destroy his crew and prevent him from reaching his home for twenty years. Odysseus’ encounters with the Cyclops, the Sirens and the nymph Calypso, among others, are stressful tests of will and endurance which he survives in his dedicated quest to reach his home and his beloved wife, Penelope. The present exhibit entitled The Journey reflects, in general, the Odyssean format of the wanderer journeying through life. In the exhibit, the adventurer is a boatman who confronts images (sculptures) that are thought-provoking and challenging to the imagination—images whose mystery is couched in the natural world of animals. Each sculpture, in turn, asks the viewer to enter into the world of specific animals or animal totems to embrace their energy as it probes the human condition. The trials that Odysseus endures, engendered by Poseidon’s wrath, comprise a journey into his interior being, a running of a psychic gauntlet, exposing his strengths and weaknesses so that he can discover his wholeness, which is the key to his returning home. A journey through this exhibit invites the viewer to enter an inner world that poses questions and inspires insights on a path to a personal homecoming.
Odysseus is referred to as “the man of many wiles.” On numerous occasions in the Odyssey he disguises his identity or, with the aid of the goddess Athena, physically transforms (shapeshifts) himself. These transformations are protective guises that test the integrity of those he encounters or ensures his safety from those who would harm him. Disguises and protective agents are also to be found in The Journey exhibit. The boatman in the sculpture entitled “The Journey Begins” is emboldened and protected by his animal spirit guides who accompany him. Later in his travels the boatman shapeshifts into an eagle spirit who, astride his raptor guide, glides safely above foreboding animal-shaped giant boulders. At other points along the journey’s path the viewer is asked to take the place of the boatman, directly experiencing the sculptural apparitions. This is an invitation to explore one’s inner demons and come to grips with the protective guises (personal) that one embraces when confronting such adversaries. This is an invitation to journey to the core of one’s being – truly a journey home. Hib Sabin Santa Fe, November 2012
“Now bright-eyed Athena sent a stiff following wind blustering out of a clear sky, gusting on so the ship might run its course through the salt sea at top speed—”
The Journey Begins Juniper, Pigments
“Now the rest of the ghosts, the dead and gone came swarming around me—deep in sorrow there, each asking about the grief that touched him most... I held fast in place, hoping that others might still come, shades of famous heroes, men who died in the old days and ghosts of an older age I longed to see...”
Land of the Owls In Collaboration with Joan Tenenbaum Juniper, Pigments, Mixed Media Earrings
“A sudden foreboding told my fighting spirit I’d soon come up against some giant clad in power like armor-plate— a savage deaf to justice, blind to law.”
Land of the Giants In Collaboration with Peter Wright Juniper, Pigments, Blown Glass
“But when she swallowed the sea-surge down her gaping maw the whole abyss lay bare and the rocks around her roared, terrible, deafening— bedrock showed down deep, boiling black with sand—”
Into the Void Juniper, Pigments
“Halfway up that cliffside stands a fog-bound cavern gaping west toward Erebus, realm of death and darkness— Scylla lurks inside it— the yelping horror, yelping, no louder than any suckling pup but she’s a grisly monster, I assure you. No one could look on her with any joy, not even a god who meets her face-to-face…”
Land of the Predators Juniper, Pigments, Waxed Twine
“But once your crew has rowed you past the Sirens a choice of routes is yours. I cannot advise you which to take, or lead you through it all— you must decide for yourself—”
Raven Maze Juniper, Pigments
“Athena stroked Odysseus with her golden wand. First she made the cloak and shirt on his body fresh and clean, then made him taller, supple, young, his ruddy tan came back, the cut of his jawline firmed and the dark beard clustered black around his chin… His own son gazed at him, wonderstruck, terrified too, turning his eyes away, suddenly— this must be some god— and he let fly with a burst of exclamations: ‘Friend, you’re a new man,—not what I saw before!’”
Land of the Shapeshifters Juniper, Pigments
“The blessed undying gods...”
Land of the Ancient Totems Juniper, Pigments
“Ithaca...Heart racing, Odysseus that great exile filled with joy to hear Athena, daughter of storming Zeus, pronounce that name. He stood on native ground at last... Driven afar, we reached this island here at the midnight hour, rowing for dear life, we made it into your harbor—”
*Joan Tenenbaum’s medallion is about life paths, overcoming obstacles, perseverence, rebirth, and healing.
The Journey Ends—The Homecoming In Collaboration with Joan Tenenbaum* Juniper, Pigments, Mixed Media Medallion
“No man alive could rival Zeus, dear boys, with his everlasting palace and possessions. But among men, I must say, few if any could rival me in riches... many a mile I roved to haul such treasures home in my ships.�
Hib Sabin
www.stoningtongallery.com
Presented By Stonington Gallery 125 S. Jackson St. Seattle, WA 98104 206.405.4040 art@stoningtongallery.com