Ian Henderson

This short video is part of an ongoing interest in works that explore religious or spiritual themes. The intention was to present an image that is both timeless and metaphorical. The piece is informed by Buddhist, Hindu and Christian texts that identify the feet as the physical point of contact between the Divine and the Earth; they function both as an object of worship and as the primary form of human propulsion. They are both the physical and metaphorical means by which an individual undertakes a journey; either into themselves or outward in quest.

A figure, that lacks an obvious gender, approaches relentlessly accompanied by a soundtrack of breath, wind, thunder and drums. It materialises from the void, strides purposefully towards the viewer for a period before fading slowly back into the dark. Notions of the recurrence of messianic figures throughout history informed this action

The action of walking towards the viewer is repeated completely three time in this submission. This device is employed to communicate that the artworks’ intended presentation is as a projection onto a wall within a darkened space at a scale greater than actual human size. Within this environment the video is presented again and again on a repeating loop; continually recurring in the same manner as messianic individuals occur within history.