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Archetypes : click on Thumbnail Image to view Image full size
Elizabeth Preiss’ ARCHETYPES explores the transcendent power of the archetype, to embody the individual's personal experience and deepest memories while simultaneously resonating with the collective consciousness of humanity. "The initial idea for this exhibit came to me in France in the spring of 07, photographing poppies in a field in the late afternoon. Beside the field stood an ancient church, with its adjacent graveyard and memorials to the generations of men and boys who had served their country in a succession of wars going back several centuries. The slanting rays of the sun illuminated the crimson petals and the green leaves and recalled to me the reflection of light and shadow pouring through stained glass which I had just photographed in the church. For any Canadian, the poppy is a potent symbol of war and remembrance. There in the poppy field, I could not help but think of ‘Flanders Field’ and the generations of men in my own family and countless others who have served and fallen. The poppy as a symbol of the sacrifice of war veterans, is not tied solely to the past. Every day wars being waged all over the globe. In Afghanistan, where Canadian troops are currently deployed, the poppy has a further ancient and ubiquitous resonance as the source of opiates and the relentlessly profitable drug trade. The final impetus behind this series is the experience of my father, a veteran of WWII who enlisted with the South African forces and served with the Allies in Egypt and Italy. His war-time recollections, letters home and personal photographs form part of its whole. The images are visually united by crimson and red light...the colour of blood and fire, love and hate, faith and fanaticism, sacrifice and death."