Alexander Tovborg
In his paintings, drawings, sculptures and performances Alexander Tovborg explores the roles that religion and mythology play in human identity and the world we inhabit. He has immersed himself in spiritual practices that range from Christian congregations, Cuban Santería rituals, an apprenticeship with a Japanese tea master, and working with a clairvoyant to explore his past lives.
Tovborg’s rich visual language borrows from symbolism found in ancient cultures, asserting the weight and power of images in religion, history and mythology - in the narratives we create to understand the past and make sense of where we find ourselves now.
In 2017, he visited Damanhur - a federation of spiritual communities founded in 1975 in the Valchiusella Valley, Italy. 600 people live there, united in an understanding of the environment as a conscious, sensitive entity, celebrating the rhythms of nature, the plant and animal realms, the practice of meditation and the study ancient magical traditions. With settlements dedicated to earth, water, fire and air, this eco-community is based on the values of ethical and sustainable living aligned with subtle energies in the universe, the elements and forces of the natural world. It has been recognised by the UN Global Forum of Human Settlements as a model for sustainable society and now has its own constitution, currency, and applications of science and technology as well as a thriving artistic culture that promotes the role of art in awakening divinity in human-nature. The Temples of Humankind are an extraordinary subterranean complex dug into a mountain-side – filled with symbolic images, mosaics, and stained glass, celebrating a ‘universal spirituality’.
In this spoken word account inspired by a personal diary entry, Tovborg narrates his encounters with the Damanhurian civilisation – their imagery and sense of place, the Temples of Humanity and their traditional ceremonies involving the sounds of gongs. These experiences inspired a monumental painting, Alter of Humanity in which he interrogates the binaries of sacred and profane, of spirit and matter. Images of serpents and dragons personify the transformational spirit of ‘Mammon’ – a term that refers to the false objects of worship that may be renounced to attain spiritual liberation.
