Fabrice Samyn
The Eclipse’s Gaze / The Pupil’s Suns
2023

Obsidian and Gold Leaf
25 x 120 cm

Obsidian is a naturally formed glass, created through volcanic eruption. It is a materialised oxymoron in itself, deeply dark, reflective and yet simultaneously transparent. It was used by the Maya as mirrors and also as glasses with which to observe solar eclipses. The sculpture is formed from circularly-cut obsidian, just as the mayan mirors, yet here they are gilded on their reverse and assembled in a pair. Like almost hidden rays of Sun the gilded rearside casts a subtle, warm glow around the depths of the frontal, dark obsidian—much like an iris, how much of the light is allowed to reach in?

Together, these obsidian synthesise the micro-macro connection of us celestial beings—from the pupils of our eyes to the stars. Our eyes are the mirrors of our own eclipses: in order to view such a cosmic event of earth’s live-giving star, our humanly eyes must themselves become such—eclipsed.