Journey of the Zodiac

I feel very grateful to have been part of this project. We began brainstorming the idea a for long time and planned to work together in Athens for ten days to make it happen. It was fun, inspiring and very fulfilling to create these images and texts. 

The prints from Journey of the Zodiac are a collaboration between artist Eloise Fornieles, curator Alix Janta-Polczynski and myself combining text and imagery to tell the narrative of the Zodiac in an artistic and innovative way.

I wrote the text next to each image which narrates the story of each sign but mainly the reason why one sign follows another. The story of the Zodiac is for me immensely inspiring as it expresses our history as humans. Knowing why Taurus comes after Aries and then transforms into Gemini is key to understanding the essential quality of a sign. Otherwise we can stay in stereotypes and end up limiting or pinning down each sign rather than allowing freedom to the energetic quality to exist in infinite ways. This is why in every image we made reference to the preceding sign and the following one as well as the element, ruling planet, the part of the body, mythology, colour, any instrument or concept and evolutionary process. 

Virgo

Keyword: I ANALYZE

Symbol: The Virgin

Ruler: Mercury

Element: Earth 

Polarity: Yin energy

Modality: Mutable

Body: Small intestines

Colour: Earth colours

After all the drama and conspicuous excess of Leo, the sign of Virgo gently brings us back down to earth. Virgo, while able to appreciate Leo’s talents, now looks for a constructive role in the material world, by working on the detail, by creating a technique, a skill. 

Separating what works with what doesn’t work, like the intestines in our bodies, sorts the wheat from the chaff. Looks at the practical and pragmatic side. Virgo is concerned with ensuring that things function, so there is a need to prioritise and discern. 

Like Gemini, the other Mercury ruled sign, Virgo wants information but - whereas Gemini gathers all information - Virgo only gathers information that is useful. They are analytical, methodical, efficient, perfectionist, critical, modest and humble and meticulous. 

Systems in general are characteristic of this sign. Taking care of the physical body - the most complex systems known - promotes a feeling of wellness and physical security. 

At the heart of this sign lies a desire to be of service to others. Their skills are often offered in service of all. They can sometimes miss the overall beauty of something by concentrating on a small flaw. 

Integrating their opposite watery sign, Pisces, allows them to learn about other realities, particularly the intangible, the things that we can’t see nor measure but we feel. 

Earth without water is not a fertile land. 

Virgo is from the 23rd of August till the 23rd of September.