James Elkins has a thing for artists who have a thing about heaven, it seems.
After several years’ neglect of the world of words-on-visual-art, I’ve gone back to see what he’s been up to, to discover that not only are some of his books now available for free download, but that there are many tantalising other fragments published on his site, including a picture essay on an extraordinary, anonymous work from a Glasgow collection of alchemical works. Hallucinatory dream images inspired by the cross-sectionings of tree trunks: somewhere the worlds of Hildegard of Bingen and Kandinsky mingle, indistinct, in a bright fog.
He doesn’t seem to mention anywhere, where this lovely work might be found, but I’d guess he’d be amendable to answering the question if asked. The essay itself was originally published in the Huffington Post, which seems an odd choice of platform, but with the intent of there being, at some stage, a future book, featuring each of the 52 images in quality reproduction. That’s one for my wish list, should it ever be published…