'RHOPILEMA MORA'

I named the piece ‘Rhopilema Mora’ as rhopilema is as the scientific name for a genus of jellyfish, that the ‘chandelier jellyfish’ falls under

I then added the Latin word for Pause – Mora, as Latin is a typical origin language and I thought it sounded good together.

We begin with entering a chaotic corner made of busy white screen prints on black fabric covering the entire area. The prints are connected by an ‘observatory window’ made of clear PVC. The PVC allows you to see colourful but distorted prints beyond it, creating layers and the sense of being part of the layers surrounded by the ocean scape. Also representing there’s many layers to life and sometimes you need to look past the black and white to find the colour beyond.

There is and intense, unnerving soundscape playing that I created in the Ellen Burroughs workshop and thought it worked well with this piece too. It was made with being underwater in mind, so I think that’s why it works.

As you move further in and turn round the corner, to enter a new area with soft sculptures floating about, pick them up, they won’t bite. They represent the organisms that float through the ocean, playing important roles that we wouldn’t even realise. Like how we pass people daily knowing nothing about what they are dealing with.

We then reach the main event, the Rhopilema Mora – Jellyfish Pause. It hangs there suspended, slowly turning, casting shadows with every bit of its being, hopefully, captivating attention and calming the sense of doom and chaos from the previous stage. It wants your attention, it wants to give you a moment of interruption, of pause to whatever worry problem is in the front or back of your mind.

Underneath is a cluster of distorted mirror tiles, reflecting the Jelly and creating a portal to another realm. We as living beings must reflect upon ourselves and situations if we wish to learn, grow and evolve from them. They climb up the wall, creating many opportunities to reflect upon yourself if you wish.

I placed the Jellypause bronze sculpture on the light and airy windowsill area, as its whole being is to remind us to pause and reflect, so I thought I would join these Jelly sculptures together to support each other in the quest of slowing down and smelling the flowers.

The whole message of this piece is the magically tragic journey people must go through to escape the darkness and enjoy the light of life. However, you can’t have one without the other so you must be prepared that the darkness is always present, you just learn to adapt and light it up the best you can. This is why there are crossovers of light and dark, and references to layers and reflecting. All are keywords in the journey of content existence.

This piece is a sensory journey to self love and understanding the balance of life that we all must realise exists.