Robert E. Bricker

‘Catastrophe Vase’ is a cylindrical composition that describes a spiritual impasse between Masculine and Feminine energies. It is a catastrophe because the soul of the Masculine is at stake, and it’s unclear if it will be spared. The masculine is facing a choice, indicated by two portals on either side of the vase: one, an open doorway leading to Eternal Life; and the other, a shattered mirror revealing the face of Death itself. 

The Feminine stands in front of the first portal, leading to star-lit galaxies of possibility. She is a Maelstrom Goddess, giving birth to messenger birds marked with an all-seeing eye. Her multiple arms swirl around her, whipping her birds into a cyclone. They are making their way across the composition towards the Masculine. 

One of the birds crashes into a mirror, and behind the shattered glass appears the spectre of Death. The message of the Feminine is breaking through the illusions of the male ego, and showing the Masculine where he is headed if he does not address the darkness in his life.

But it’s not clear that the message is being received. The Masculine is undergoing a crisis, living as a disjointed assemblage of personas represented by various masks. The masks are crying, drunk, blindfolded, and even monstrous. One of them is setting a message (now a paper airplane) on fire with its gaze. The true soul of the Masculine is imperceptible underneath all of these masks. If he wasn’t mired in his own suffering, he might have a chance — but he manages to avoid the messages of the Feminine as they tragically land in a trash can,  and at the foot of the door to Eternal Life. 

“many masks grow in my face

peel them off, yet nonetheless

countless others take their place”