Fire Project (Wall of Fire), 1999

Artist's statement

Why fire?
First of all because of its mesmerizing and hypnotic beauty.
And then because there is nothing as changeable, ever moving and elusive, yet so present.
So alive yet so deadly.
Fire as a metaphor for life.
Fire as a symbol of metamorphosis.

In Genesis fire appeared on the third day of creation, as the lightest and the most subtle element. In the order of purity fire comes first in the sequence of elements, before earth, water and air. This is how the whole cosmos was structured by the spiritual minds of ancient times and today it holds just as well as it did then.

Fire is so many things. But not all of them at the same time. Fire is warmth and life, but it is also destruction and death. Its red coals and yellow flames can gently flicker in the fireplace and warm us up on a cold wintry night. It helps us prepare our food. And don't we all have some memories of stories told and songs sung by the bonfire?

Bonfire is our direct link to our prehistoric ancestors and to the "primitive" cultures that are so much more connected to nature than our own "progressive" society. Fire connects us to that raw, basic essence of life. Fire is the reminder of where we came from. It makes the mythological stories and ceremonies of some present day tribes alive for us. Fire is a wonderful story-teller. It is like an unwritten book full of memories, experiences and imagination. Light the fire and the string of stories will rise to the sky with the flames.

On the other hand fire can also leave behind total devastation. Its out of control power is unpredictable and it can consume everything that gets in its way. But as long as there is life on this earth there is going to be rebirth. A new life will spring from the ashes, like the phoenix from its funeral pyre, transformed.

A lot of values that are attributed to fire can only be explained psychologically. When we feel alive we burn with passion for people and things. Fire is the centre of everything living. "Let's light the fire", we say when we want something to happen. Light my fire and let's see what will happen. Love and friendship burn gently with pure and light flames. This is the kind of fire we want to preserve, because if it is not attended to it will dwindle and die. The flames of anger, on the other hand, can consume our clear vision, until all that is left are ashes and the desolation of our inner landscape.

That is the duality of fire: life and death, chaos and purity, beauty and destruction. But isn't there beauty in chaos and life in destruction? Aren't they all interconnected and mingled together until they are all transformed into new beginnings?

Dana Velan, Montréal, 1999