Viewing spirituality

G-d Created The Perfect World.

Trees and vegetation did not yet grow because G-d“…had not brought rain upon the earth….” (Genesis 2:5). There was no one to recognize the benefit of rain. Adam, upon his creation, understood the need and prayed for rain. Prayer is universal.

Prayer emanates from one’s heart. One who prays draws closer to G-d and strengthens the understanding and reality of G-d. Prayer affects the spiritual, non-bound by time, which in turn affects the physical. The boundaries between the spiritual and the material would appear to be insurmountable, yet through prayer, spiritual doors open, and these boundaries are traversed. Darkness becomes light. That which was previously unfathomable becomes comprehendible. Prayer connects to The Source which is beyond our vision and actuality.

In the Tefilin Series, these doors may take the form of a square or a rectangle, containing light within light referencing the physical contained within the spiritual. It is the past contained within the present influencing the future; the observer experiences a changing passage of time, connecting to the artist’s interpretation of the calling out of actual motion and change through a window of the mind, heart and soul and its perspective of “viewing spirituality”. 

Sanchez’s use of iridescent paint demonstrates the appearing and disappearing emanation of history. At times reality is comprehensible; at others, one searches for an understanding. The connection of what can and can not be seen in the immediate is the reference to the world’s ethereal beauty. This is G-d’s Creation. Freedom, in the mind of the artist is the ability to search beyond one’s self and to connect with and internalize that which is beyond. 

Jewish prayer, as depicted in this series, opens doors. It connects to the past and the future; to the Holy Temple that was destroyed and to that for which we so long—the Rebuilding of the Holy Temple and the End of Days. The Midrash teaches us that there are ten different expressions of prayer. These ten names for prayer are parallel to the “ten depths of the heart”. As one delves deeper into one’s heart and soul, a deeper expression of prayer is achieved.

The central element of this series comprises ten unique paintings, each representing a level of prayer. The number ten is most significant. “The world was created through ten utterances... There were ten generations from Adam to Noah… and ten generations from Noah to Abraham… G-d brought ten plagues on the Egyptians... There were ten Miracles in the Holy Temple..." (from Pirkei Avot 5).

The viewer partakes in a mystical journey and explores what may or may not exist. Perhaps it can be seen in the current of changing light. Or perhaps an additional journey may be necessary.