"My Alchemy"

This project is the result of my study of the early Alchemists’ ideas and artwork. For it, I photographed my own subjects to transform to alchemical themes, and floated them in scientific glass on a backlit tower, telling their story.. Not every Alchemist’s goal was to turn lead into gold for personal fortune, there were also faithful Alchemists seeking personal transformation. Their belief was that through Alchemy, God’s revelations would teach them how to change their own base energy into the refined energy of the Holy Spirit. Alchemy was controversial so the transmutation process was kept secret and Alchemists used code, including images, to communicate. Some symbols were universal, like Sulphur: Sun/Lion/King, and Mercury: Wolf/Moon/Queen, but many were developed in isolation so very idiosyncratic. The Alchemists’ artwork reveals their intention, imagination, and dedication to truth through observation of the natural world, contributing to the dawn of chemistry. It was Alchemists’ revision of failed experiments that led to the modern scientific process. Most satisfying is that centuries later, in 1981, scientists sucessfuly transmuted lead to gold with a particle accelerator.