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Hope in Wisdom - Hope in Darkness

Printmaker: Duffin, Stuart, RSA · b. 1959

"Title: Hope in Wisdom – Hope in Darkness
Medium: mezzotint on copper
Edition size: 30
Date: 2005
Printing paper: Hahnemuhle 300gsm natural
Printed at the Glasgow Print Studio
Essentially the whole body of work that I have been making since 1996 (of which this is an example) is informed and inspired by Jerusalem and the burden of historical and contemporary baggage that it bears .
It was in 1996 that I was invited to work in Jerusalem at the Jerusalem Print Workshop for a month as part of an international artists exchange with the Glasgow Print Studio. Although Jerusalem is the closest that we can get to heaven of our own accord, nowhere more than in the Holy City did I experience the loss of paradise, or our separation from God in a more painfully obvious way. This is a loss or a searching that I believe remains deep within the make up of every individual. All my work since then has been a result of the experiences, thoughts and memories of Jerusalem. The work is, on one hand, a simple still life of familiar (to me) everyday objects. But on the other hand there is symbolism attached to them. It is a personal symbolism but not so personal that the viewer cannot enter in to it. For me the welfare of Jerusalem has become a barometer to our own spiritual welfare, not only as individuals but of society as a whole, and this is represented by the old maps, modern views and oblique references to Jerusalem seen in the works.

Hope in Wisdom – Hope in Darkness is essentially a work about, well....hope. The graffiti along the bottom has developed over a series of works which contained many references to the current conflict. This work, the last in the series sees most of the graffiti covered up, but with word like 'al Quds' the Arabic for Jerusalem, Zion which is the both a Christian and Hebrew name for the city or 'solus' a Gaelic word for enlightenment!!!!. The street sign on the center of the back wall (Street of Prophets) is actually at the foot of the stairs to the Jerusalem Print Workshop, with the name written in English (from the Latin representing the Christian aspect), Arabic (representing the Islamic) and Hebrew (representing the Jewish). The name of the street itself is crucial as it inspired the use of the Latin text in the lower panel. The text is from the Lamentations of the prophet Jeremiah. The skull and the egg are more obvious symbols of the transient nature of life (not death.. that is a skeleton) and the possibility of rebirth respectively." (Stuart Duffin's e-mail to Collections Assistant, 2006-05-10, copy in Duffin's file). The editions of 'Hope in Wisdom, Hope in Darkness' are available on Duffin's website for purchase and there is an image of the print (www.stuartduffin.com) in the section 'Sacred Science'.