Imagined Souls

Imagined Souls

The construct of the human soul as an imagined metaphysical manifestation is widely understood within Western culture. In his collection of images entitled Invisible Souls (Yîn xíng Pò) Nic Gaunt explores the divergent views held by Chinese philosophy to produce works which embody a sense of Pò. (the physicality component of the soul which remains with the body)

To imagine that there is nothing devoid of spirituality, and every spiritual thing is in a sense material, questions whether a disembodied spirit can exist. A Chinese interpretation of soul therefore needs to be redefined from a Western held perception of the concept and is perhaps better understood as a force which mediates between the human world and the spiritual realm

As human beings we are therefore embodiments of the soul.

In Daoist philosophy the soul is split in two. The Pò which is the physical manifestation of the soul and the Hun which is the ethereal component. The framework of the Soul is a collective assembly of seven parts Pò and three parts Hun. 

Nic Gaunt has produced seven works to represent the seven aspects of Pò and three works to convey the Hun. 

 The physicality of the human form has been removed by the artist, leaving only the pigment to indicate the presence of the body. The liquid acts as the glue binding our physical world to that of the spiritual dimension.