WATER

Water has always challenged the human imagination. It is the source of life, a way of purification, and a central part of corporeal and spiritual regeneration.

Water contains the promise of expansion and growth along with the threat of disintegration and collapse. Such is the duality of this element, which is at the same time symbol of life and source of death, feminine and masculine, beneficent and malevolent, desired and feared, familiar and full of secrets. Calm water contrasts with the swiftly flowing current; the lake contrasts with the water-fall; glistening baptismal water contrasts with the polluted water of foundries; clear and health giving spring water contrasts with black and dangerous floodwater; the voluptuousness of living water contrasts with the frozen crystals of ice and the otherworldliness of water vapour.

An ambiguous symbol, water hovers between the human and supernatural worlds. It is in its nature to change according to temperature, altitude, and seasons. It can fertilize or sweep away. This ambivalence of water is depicted in myth and is characterized by its traditional representations. Living water is changing and singing, but at any time its incessant movement may slow, stand heavily, and devour the shadows. During daylight hours, water is fresh and euphoric, and at twilight or in shade, it evokes the concealed sorrows of human beings.

Water is often given feminine attributes and associated with the image of a woman. Its life force and sensuality symbolize the accomplishment of fertility. It is milky and lunar, owing to the correspondence of ocean tides and the cycles of the moon with that of the rhythms of the menstrual cycle.

The river represents the course of human existence, with its fluctuations of destiny and its movements of desires and sentiment. We are exposed to the dangers of life on the surface, monsters born from our subconscious swim in the depths. Fish in deep waters that angler's try to lure to the surface, symbolize unconscious energies – the shapeless powers of the soul and unacknowledged motivations.

Contemplation is a human need. Gazing at reflective water never ceases to intrigue us. The surface of water is a mirror where people were first able to discover their faces. It is where Narcissus admired himself and where, without realizing it, he fell in love with his own reflection to the point of madness. Water separates the conscious from the unconscious, and like Narcissus, we waver between the wish to drown in the fantasy of the imagination and the fear of the unknown. The long reveries we indulge in while strolling along the banks of peaceful lakes and lazy rivers relieve melancholy, for water forces us to envisage ourselves – partly hidden, obscure, and indecipherable.

The history of art seems set against exalted and happy representations of clear water filled with light and the smiles of springtime streams. It prefers images of catastrophic floods and disturbing waters, deep and deadly that give rise to endless despair.

  “Water – A spectacular celebration of water's vital role in the life of our planet.”

  Silvester, Dupuis -Tate & Fischesser. Thames & Hudson     2001

Photograph, Mandy Farrar