We live off of and through nature and the land, bound to it since the dawn of human existence. Yet, over time, this bond between nature and humans has grown tenuous, distancing us from our own nature as well.
Our ancestors, from ancient Babylon, Egypt, Greece, Rome and beyond, venerated nature. Conscious of their subjection to its mercy and, at times, its cruelty, they made offerings and related to it as a deity.
From this emerged hieros gamos – the sacred marriage – which in some cultures evolved into a sacred ritual through which people sought to invoke the masculine and feminine poles, and through a symbolic (and sometimes literal) act of copulation, stimulate the fertility of their livestock and crop yields. Others worshipped the sun as the masculine principle, which enabled Mother Earth to bear fruit.1
Such dualities (masculine-feminine, sky-earth), which echo inherently human concerns and needs, are present within humans themselves. Psychologist Carl Gustav Jung recognized these as archetypal forces operating within the human psyche, calling them the anima (the feminine aspect in man) and animus (the masculine aspect in woman). Originally, these archetypes were exclusively linked to fertility magic but over time acquired deeper symbolic meaning. In early antiquity, the physical performance of the sacred marriage (hieros gamos) gradually evolved into mystery, and later, through Gnosticism, Christianity, and natural philosophy, was transformed into a metaphysical and abstract concept. Jung saw these inner forces as bridges to the unconscious when balanced, or as destructive forces when unintegrated. The anima then manifests through instability, capriciousness, and uncontrolled emotions, while the animus becomes rigid, dogmatic, and dominant.2
Herein lies the key to interpreting Mia Popović’s photographs. Dualities permeate her images: black against white, sharp against soft, what’s focused and what is blurred. It is no coincidence that the motifs Mia chooses are ones from nature itself.
What originated as “casual” photographs taken during walks become meditative moments in time where all dualities of humans and nature are frozen. Soft leaves contrast with sharp thorns, and blades of grass, tousled by wind, can easily be interpreted as neurons firing to create new memories. They exist, essentially, on the edge of abstraction.
Abstracted in this way, Mia’s photographs offer us an opportunity to stand before nature, return to our roots, to momentarily forget the civilization that simultaneously eases our life while distancing us from nature.
It is, of course, about the balance between human and nature, akin to the balance of the masculine aspect in woman or the feminine in man. Their integration represents the path toward personal wholeness, just as in nature we find a perfect balance of opposites. Yet, such balance requires us to pause, quiet the noise of civilization, and learn once more to listen to the whisper of (our own) nature.
- Frazer, James George. The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion. Wordsworth Reference. Ware: Wordsworth, 1993, 135–146.
- Jung, C. G., R. F. C. Hull, i C. G. Jung. The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. 2nd ed. Princeton/Bollingen Paperbacks 20. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1980.
Artist and photographer: Mia Popović
Curator: Dora Derado Giljanović, PhD
Time: 4. 11. – 1. 12. 2024.
Place: Botaničar, Zagreb, Croatia
