In the light of the Abrahamic lenses, human-kind has gone astray from its closeness to its source. This degenerated shape of human is called fallen man and, its antonym is, as pointed out by Martin Lings (2005)1, primordial man. Primordial man, as expressed by Lings, is endowed with profound and spiritual intuitive knowledge and therefore is in harmony with the source of all, the One Truth. Part of the argument of the Fall is that humankind has forgotten the knowledge derived from its essence and thus the journey of enlightenment is not learning new things but rather remembering what has been forgotten. Hence, recovery of the state of primordial man is verily the ultimate achievement of re-connection, the way back to the Divine Source, the goal of religion. The artistic language, at least the one fomented by spiritual truth, delivers a glimpse of the original relationship between the Heavens and Earth. It demonstrates how eternal archetypes dwell in the earthly realm, albeit often hidden from the outer eye,  uplifting the spirits of those who resonate with them back to their celestial home and out of exile. 

Naturally, in the context of humankind being the receptacle of Revelation and its means to address to the world, this kind of art is a reference to the uplifted spirits of primordial man, who acts as a mirror, and reflects the light that is not deriving from himself, but from above2. Primordial man would walk as if he were dancing, would talk as if it were poetry, and his actions would be considered a work of art. It rests on the concept that, since the image of God is reflected in primordial man, the mimicking of his acts are mimics of the Ultimate Artist, the Creator, and his ways of communication and expression would be on a par with those before the Fall; all the creative power that resonates in Creation must, therefore, be derived from the singular original source, the Ancient of Days. The original artistic practice is “original” not because it is “new” and one of a kind, but because it is connected with this very Origin, hence communal and universal.

René Guénon, (2007)3, comments that the means of expression of this archetypal primordial man is the so-called “Language of the Birds”, which appears in a range of mythological and sacred texts in various traditions. The relationship traced between birds and their language is the association with angels and their messages, the Revelations, which are sourced from the One Truth. Primordial man bears the capacity of accessing this higher knowledge in virtue of his elevated spirit, and the channeling of this angelic means of communication is expressed in true forms of poetry and beauty. 

Keith Critchlow (2019)4 exalts Geometry as a means of Karma Yoga, the path of enlightenment through action and practice. Undoubtedly, Geometry is a well pronounced feature in the Sacred Arts and, accompanied by the intellectual charge of Tradition, it underlies the creative visual manifestation and serves as a lighthouse, a direction to where one should navigate.

(1- Lings, M. (2005), Symbol and Archetype a Study of the Meaning of Existence. Louisville, Fons Vitae)

(2- Burckhardt, T. (2006), The Foundation of Christian Art. Bloomington, World Wisdom, Inc.)

(3- Guénon R. as in Lings, M. & Minaar, C. (2007), The Underlying Religion: An Introduction to the Perennial Philosophy, World Wisdom, Inc.)

(4- Professor Keith Critchlow: Art of the Ever True. YouTube, uploaded by Temenos Academy, 16 Sep. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6V1qwLOUKrI&t=1154s.)

Brazil, 1994. Chaim’s art practice starts as a means to cure boredom and turns into divine calling.

Weekend Catholic Masses; the tiresome monotony of the preaching can certainly be quite challenging to a child and, in order to cure the kid’s unrest, his mother gave him some sheets of paper and a pencil to relieve his anxiety at the length of these sessions. Chaim would spend his time there copying the imagery of the cathedral’s walls, distracted from tedious sermons. These early experiences shaped his fascination for Iconographic representation; the imagery’s symbolical charge and the methodical, meditative process of their creation became an integral part his artistic practice.

Later, in São Paulo, he studied Graphic Design, to then follow the path as a painter arriving to the UK in 2017 to study at the UAL’s Wimbledon College of Arts. Gabriel exhibited at the Mall Galleries, Futures Exhibition in London in 2019 as one of the latest outstanding art graduates in contemporary art.

Chaim describes his art practice as ritualistic, similar to that of the old masters. He grinds semi-precious stones and extracts pigments to hand mix his own paints, which he then converts, using this traditional process, into a visual intellectual output and his iconographic painting.

The pigments used have two natures: mineral and organic based. The mineral ones or semi-precious stones - malachite, azurite and chrysocolla, are done mechanically, having the whole rock bashed to a fine powder using a bronze mortar and pestle, and then filtered to a cleaner and finer state with a ceramic mortar and pestle. In a nutshell, it is dusted rocks. The organic based ones need a chemical process, using an alkaline solution to extract the dye from plants, roots, grains or insects which then undergo a precipitation process turning them from a liquid to a solid. The solidified dye is the actual pigment.

He believes that artistic language, at least the one fomented by spiritual truth, delivers a glimpse of the original relationship between the Heavens and Earth. It demonstrates how eternal archetypes dwell in the earthly realm, albeit often hidden from the outer eye, uplifting the spirits of those who resonate with them back to their celestial home and out of exile.

Gabriel already having been introduced to traditional practices such as gilding and egg tempera, and the philosophy behind these techniques, was able to develop and hone these techniques during his time at the Prince's School of Traditional Arts and later in his career as a painter.