Sacred Feminine a gorgeous display of intuited collages

Dan Brown and Robert Langdon are novice academics when it comes to discussing the ‘sacred feminine.'

For one thing, the second person is a fictional creation of the first in The Da Vinci Code. For another they are both guys. If you want the real story with far more compelling imagery and symbols, you should pop through the doors at Crimson Quill in the Perron District.

St. Albert artist Lisa Chater is clearly the expert in the matter. She has presented a series of goddess works in the gallery space at the back of the store. Take your time to walk in and absorb the energy of the place and the different aromas. That way you can be relaxed, open to and aware of the vast multitude of images that she has lovingly compiled and arranged for soulful reflection. It's the perfect oasis to take sanctuary when there's just too much rain outside.

What makes Chater's art so special is that it crosses all cultures and religions with complete respect and equality. A Hindu figure resides next to a Christian one with an Islamic or Jewish symbol nearby. Together they all create larger forms of butterflies or ankhs. With all of its spiritual content and calming nature, there really couldn't be a more perfect exhibit for this Art Walk location. The opposite is also true for how Crimson Quill is the perfect union. Could it be that this is the most balanced show around? Perhaps that's the first clue of larger forces at work. Another clue is only learned from the sources of the individual images. Chater describes it in much the same way as found art where other visual artists create sculptures out of ordinary objects, sometimes incorporating pieces of street garbage into larger amalgams, thereby making her a kind of vessel for the art to come out.

I asked her if there was a relationship between how she intuits her collages and the source of the sacred feminine in the first place, that it is something that must arise out of not knowing as much as feeling the direction.

“I never look for it. It's given. The only thing is to pay attention. It's always there,” she began to explain. “It's more a process of awakening yourself to what's already happening.”

This sounds like the sort of learning that doesn't come from books but she does have her Ph.D. in educational psychology, so I defer to her expertise. This is clearly not just a spur of the moment adventure for her; Chater is on a quest of exploration and it has some very personal implications. She may just be a guide with a great eye for visual art.

“I feel like women have been deprived of feminine creator goddess imagery and that it's important for them because if they can attune to a female creator then they can use that energy to create themselves. It exists both without and within them.”

It's a pretty divine experience in a pretty divine place.