Essays:
A Tribute to Hermes
Jacqueline Kello,
Artist and Owner of Haven Art
Herma are gatherings of rocks that in ancient times served as a system of navigation through the wilderness. These manmade outcroppings connect landmarks of the journey from one place known to another. They still exist in the Himalayas and other geography of extremes. This gathering of rocks means survival in passage through unchartered territory. A wayfarer might add another stone to the already prominent pile in agreement and with that gesture mark his presence.
Hermes, the Greek god, probably first heard his name gratefully praised as a pile of rocks. He holds a special place in the world of art. Hermes, the messenger of the gods, or if you prefer, the neural transmissions that mysteriously create images so fundamental to human creativity. Artists understand that images hold answers to problems, not unlike a scientific equation. The visual image of a microscopic exchange can map a territory unknowable to the senses. There is something of mystery and the unknown in a work of art that gives us a peek at what may not be able to be said or experienced any other way. Images illumine the way through unknown territory we call Life.
Hermes is the name I gave to a sculpture; a limestone rock I rolled around
with on a basement floor with some chisels, files, and wet sand paper in
1988. The finished sculpture spent time in the Hutchins Gallery
at C.W. Post, Druid's garden in Manhattan, and after that, years overlooking
a lake in New Jersey. Always working but never for sale,
the piece now stands as you come down the stairs into the active studio
at Haven Art.
Come visit and add your stone.
