Fioretti

A St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) was a Italian Catholic friar, deacon, philosopher, mystic, and preacher. He founded the men's Order of Friars Minor, the women's Order of Saint Clare, the Third Order of Saint Francis and the Custody of the Holy Land. He didn't write a lot himself, rather inspired others who happened to write down his teachings and life. B Bonnie Camplin (born 1970) is a British artist and a fine art lecturer at Goldsmiths College, London. She was a 2015 Turner Prize nominee. After an artist talk in 2018 she allowed me to call her »elder« and ask for spiritual guidance in the future, if needed. D 5-MeO-DMT (5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine) is a psychedelic of the tryptamine class and an entheogen. Entheogens are psychoactive substances that induce alterations in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition, or behavior for the purposes of engendering spiritual development in sacred contexts. 5-MeO-DMT is found in a wide variety of plant species, and at least one toad species, the Sonora Desert toad. E Elisabeth von Samsonow (*1956 in Neubeuern am Inn) is a philosopher and artist. She is a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts and the wisest person I personally know. I kindly asked her to show a sculpture that was also part of a group show I curated last year. F The »Fioretti« (Little Flowers), is a collection of legends and folklore that sprang up after Francis of Assis's death. One account describes how Francis told his companions to »wait for me while I go to preach to my sisters the birds.« The birds surrounded him, intrigued by the power of his voice, and not one of them flew away. G »The Gaiasophy or ecosophy developed and proposed by The Dissident Goddesses’ Network draws upon the figure of the goddess in philosophy, history and art (as dea natura, natura naturans, dea materia, Dea Mater or Demeter, anima mundi).« - Elisabeth von Samsonow L »Our life is all grounded and rooted in love, and without love we may not live.« - Julian of Norwich M Matthieu Haberard, (*1991 in Toulouse) is interested in the wild imagination of children that is often lost once adulthood is entered. His sculptures and textile works are an evocation of intuition found in children, a willed abandoning of reason, consequentiality and the constraints of language. (quote from giannimanhattan.com) N Julian of Norwich (1343– after 1416), also known as Dame Julian or Mother Julian, was an English eremite of the Middle Ages. She wrote the best known surviving book in the English language written by a mystic, Revelations of Divine Love. The book is the first written in English by a woman. R Rita Siegfried (*1964 in Basel) lives and works in Bern. She presently works as an artist and as a gilder, as well as teaching at the Schule für Gestaltung in Bern. Her last exhibtion »Geisterspiel/Ghost Game« took place at Suns Works in Zurich, which is run by my dear friend Lorenzo Bernet. I want to to thank him, because he convinced Rita to participate in this exhibition. S Stefan Fuchs (*1988 in Munich) lives and works in Munich. In his artistic practice he is creating fantastical, alternative realities that are informed by his interest in visual language and material culture (e.g. 70's fabrics). Creation in his mind is always an organic process of transformation like photosynthesis. W »Those who work with their hands are labourers. Those who work with their hands and their head are craftsmen. Those who work with their hands, their head, and their heart are artists.« - St. Francis of Assisi