Artist bio

I'm currently a student of Architectural Engeneering but have been always fascinated by Graphics, Illustation, Photography and Digital Arts trying to get skills on my own and with additional courses.

Title

" Mount Horeb "

Medium/Genre

Digital Art

Artist Statement

Through this series I would like to tell a journey, or rather an experience.

I have made these shots during a hike to the slopes of a mountain. The ancients believed that within this great rift resided one of the furnaces of Hephaestus, god of metals, fire and strength and that there he made a blade for Zeus, father of the gods. Beyond the myths and legends, the reality is that this place has in itself, for some reason, something sacred and ancestral.

At the moment I'm not a particularly practicing Christian. Born into a traditional family I was brought up with religion as a child, and up to a certain point I followed and enriched my faith. Then as I grew up I broke a bit away from the church but most of my friendships, the ones that have remained until now, were created in church environments and I believe that this is why they have remained so strong, because we have had the opportunity to strengthen our bond and experience something beyond the simple fun. For this and other reasons, when I asked myself if God exists, I always answered "I don't know, but there is Something", something that keeps all things together, in perfect balance. An energy that can be felt by anyone, whether they believe it or not, just need to take the right time to feel it. In certain moments, and in certain places this happens naturally, and this is one of them.

Since I had chosen this very place as the subject of the contest, while I was browsing through the photos, the image of Mount Sinai kept popping up in my mind, or rather, Mount Sinai as I had always imagined it since I was a child, hearing the scriptures and the parable of the Burning Bush: a clearing on the crest of the mountain, a natural niche created by the rocks of the crest and a bush in the center. So I researched those biblical passages (exodus 3, 17 and 19), discovering other elements such as the spring sprung directly from the rock and the demonstration of God's power in all its might...those pictures were in a way turning that mountain into Mount Sinai for me, not because of its conformation or location, but just because they brought me back to the reading of the scriptures.

How it fits into contest

I think the hardest battle is the one against our demons, it's not just a catchphrase but unfortunately also the harsh reality: we are the most ruthless judges of ourselves. We often accept many faults in others, but we hate those same faults on ourselves terribly. I have always been terrified of failure, so much so that I have sometimes avoided action for fear of falling. The thing is, the hardest part is accepting that there is nothing wrong with failure. Micheal Jordan said in one of his interviews when they told him"you are amazing, the greatest basketball player of all time". He said "You are just mentioning the successes, to become the greatest basketball player I missed 9000 shots when I was playing NBA games". So during his so successful games he failed 9000 times but still remains one of the greatest basketball players of all time.

I started hiking again in a period not particularly beautiful of my life using it at the beginning only as an outlet, to free my mind from thoughts, this then allowed me to find many emotions that had been hidden.

I believe that life is like a challenging hike: sometimes is cloudy, sometimes it rains, and sometimes it snows and a strong wind blows that takes you away. Sometimes there are obstacles, sometimes you stumble and sometimes you fall but everytime you make a step forward, even the smallest, makes all those already taken easy, just move on.

I don't want to give a meaning to every single photo because I believe that the beauty of graphic communication lies in the fact that everyone sees and feels different sensations as a reflection of what they have inside, and by giving my interpretation I would condition, in part, all the other possible ones. However, specially one made me feel ambivalent emotions, the one with the ladder: to continue the hike was necessary to use that ladder, built by someone and put there to help, as a support to continue the track. At the same time it became the only way to continue the path: partly conditioned by its presence and partly conditioned by its convenience. I saw it again in the things we sometimes do, we often act with the best of intentions, but something positive in itself can become a constraint because we have become accustomed to seeing it that way.

I'm grateful to have had the chance to do this path because with the passing of time it is becoming more and more inaccessible: due to erosion and the stream flowing inside it, this big and suggestive rock is slowly giving way and probably one day it will be gone. That day I hope that some of its incredible power and energy will resonate as an echo in these shots.

How to Purchase this Artwork

Free use

Other Goods & Services Available from this Artist

Graphics and Illustrations
Motion Graphic
Editing and post prouction

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