Scrying Objects

The imagery of these objects are representations of spaces within the wizard’s tower. Scrying is a form of divination that utilizes the gazing onto a surface or object as a means of retrieving visions or symbols that can be interpreted. Within fantasy games, such as Dungeons and Dragons, it is a spell that allows a player to remotely a specific location, which is how the wizard utilizes these objects.

The vessel is referential of a crystal ball, arguably the most well-known scrying object, and portrays the room in which the wizard keeps his masks, from the masked series.

Progress and Development of the Series

This piece marked the beginning of my interest with the potential for exploring storytelling through the alteration of perspectival space. I was reminded of Greco-Roman painted pottery, and how epic stories could be told by merely walking around the vessel.

Recovered Memory was the first of my scrying objects and was inspired by a recovered memory, from my earliest recollection of going to church as a child. For a time in the early 90s, the church created an initiative for inviting their members to attend events in clown costumes to appeal to children. One of these clowns was one of my early Sunday school teachers who would often come to teach Sunday school as a really badly put together clown, and was an absolute source of horror as a child. Upon exploring this memory for the first time, I recalled learning the story of David and Goliath, and felt that adding this religious motif could balance out the opposing side of the jar.