Process:
Divination, in occultist terms, is the supernatural process of seeking answers to otherwise unanswerable questions. When considering As Above in relation to this theme, I was struck by the familiarity I felt in that unanswering, relentlessly spinning sky. During times of crisis when I need answers or reassurance, I seek out nature and can spend hours gazing and thinking. Often, though, these sojourns into the wild only lead to a more bewildering set of questions.

For my translation of As Above, I wanted to create an apparatus that might allow for a more focused contemplation of nature — specifically the sky. You could use Window as a tool for aeromancy and perform readings of the clouds, or simply to frame the boundless ‘above’ into a more palatable expanse.

In As Above, the viewer becomes increasingly overwhelmed by the limitlessly turning sky and repeated mantras: “The sky is deeply blue,” “I have a philosophical question for you,” “Blue.”

Through the guided, repetitive practice of looking above, my translation considers what a visual mantra might look like. In framing the sky over and over again, I ask: is there any way to fathom this vastness?
—Lorna Dielentheis

Lorna Dielentheis is a visual artist and illustrator based in Vermont. She works in a variety of mediums, most recently pigment pen and digital drawing. Much of her work is inspired by nature, folklore, and bodies. In addition to her visual art practice, Lorna enjoys writing for The Working Proof Project, an online arts journal she founded in 2019. She graduated in 2014 from St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN with a B.A. in Studio Art and Art History.
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