Story of Oshun | Canada

Art Pavilion – Story told by line

The Myth

According to the Orisha legend, Olodumare, the god of all gods, sent the female deity Oshun down to earth to create a world with a group of male deities. Oshun wore a gold dress and jewelry. She was dark, beautiful, and quite flirtatious. While they admired her beauty, the male gods didn’t think that they needed Oshun’s help to create a world. Frustrated that she wasn’t getting the reverence she deserved, Oshun left this boy’s club and went to the moon, where she lounged and admired herself in the mirror. Oshun didn’t try to convince the male gods of her value or demand reassurance that she was worthy — she just left. She knew they wouldn’t get far without her.

Oshun’s departure caused the Earth to dry up. Without water, there weren’t any plants or animals. There was no life. The gods didn’t know what was going on; they didn’t connect their failed attempt of creation to the missing goddess. Confused by their lack of success, they went back and informed Olodumare that they couldn’t create the world he had requested. The gods explained that the world was barren. Olodumare looked at them quizzically, noticing that Oshun was no longer with the group. He explained to them that Oshun — her love, beauty, and energy — was essential to create the world and life on it. The chagrined gods apologized to Oshun and begged her to come back and provide her life-giving energy and love. She accepted their apology, but sternly told them not to treat her dismissively again. Upon her return, the world became fertile and beautiful.

Story told by line

This installation is an architectural commentary, or better yet, an architectural translation of one of the archetypal stories whose matrix we can observe as ontological to all stories in general.

The “story of the Goddess”, shows us the dynamics of events that we can notice in all religious stories, but also in all the old myths, fairy tales, etc. God, singularly one, separates from the beginning on the masculine and feminine principle (two oppositions), in order to develop the multitude. The “multitude” is a necessary construction within which individuation is possible. One – many – one. The archetypal matrix of each story.

The story of the Goddess depicts conflict. Conflict, which as we know is necessary for every maturation. Within the conflict, a “Wrong,” or anti-thesis is recognized. Only with conflict, the principle of contrasting oppositions is obvious, and only with this knowledge, the conflict is overcomeble. The female principle, which retreats to the Moon (the symbol of the woman, in relation to the Sun, which is the symbol of the man), and with its separation stops the process of multiplication (the principle of many).

The final act of the story depicts the intervention of the First Principle, which again unites the sets (this time in balance), in order to return the process of multiplicity to the initial path.

The sculpture is read from north to south in a vertical orientation, or right to left in horizontal orientation.

The story of the lunar phases

The story of the Goddess is also special because of her relationship with the Moon. In almost all archaic myths and stories, the moon is associated with the principle of women. The moon, in relation to the sun (male principle), is the other (night) side of light.

As the moon is shown in its lunar phases, our story imitates this pattern. The story begins with a circle without light.

– The first symbol – The first act of the story – The initial distribution of the Gods – In the new moon (initial scenario), the tendency of the line towards separation is already visible. Dualism is presented as one of the first laws

– Second Symbol – Second act of the story – Conflict – In the full moon, the unfolding is complete (the part of the story where the Goddess moves to the moon). The moon is sliced both horizontally and vertically. The explication of the double motif is further amplified by their opposing tendencies. This symbol in a different distribution could be associated with the symbol of yin and yang, and many other symbols, which show the complementarity of duality, but the “conflict” does not allow us to do so and communicates two opposing ideas.

– The third symbol – The third act – overcoming the conflict – In the last symbol, the setting Moon, a cubist image is printed which, with horizontal and vertical connections, makes a systematization and actually provides a picture of the totality.

The story ends with a symbol of a circle that contains within itself the starting point of light. The end of this story is the beginning of the story of Human. This story of God, conflict and reconciliation is a necessary predisposition of every story since it contains three archetypal constituents of all stories, introduction, plot and unfolding.

Symbolic Abbreviation

The Pavilion / Sculpture shows a double symbolism, as is the nature of its existence

– Fluid form (waveform), stands in direct reference with the Goddess Oshun and her connection with the principle of water.

– The sculpture draws a volute. Volute, as a female principle that crowns the top of the column, and thus makes it “Ionic”.