CODICES

This body of work was heavily inspired by codices and illuminated manuscripts written across Europe during the Middle Ages. These ancient books demonstrated an interconnectedness among the disciplines of herbal, anatomical and astrological knowledge. A common staple of these codices were mystical elements of personhood, often in the form of anthropomorphized botany and astrology. Central concepts such as astrological botany (a system based the notion that medicinal plants must be planted and harvested with regard to the positions of the planets and other heavenly bodies), medical astrology (the assigning of zodiac signs, sun, moon, and planets to parts of the body, diseases and subsequent treatments), and doctrine of signatures (using plants that resemble conditions or body parts to treat that part of the body) depict a profound belief in the interconnectedness of what was seen as the divinely created. 

Through these pieces, I explored the blended boundaries between the interwoven realms of existence of botanical, human and celestial bodies, and the resulting sense of unity within the natural world. Building on these concepts through the addition of imagery that is reminiscent of typical codex illustrations, I also incorporated imagery based on personal objects and symbols that have no clear significance to an outside eye. Drawing from the Voynich Manuscript, a codex written in a language that was never successfully decoded, I created my own alphabet and incorporated it into these pieces. Adding elements that are insignificant without explanation connects to a larger idea of the arbitrary nature of belief. Combining individualism with pre existing systems creates a surreal space in which the individualistic can coexist with the established.