Visions Of Hildegard
Solo Exhibition by Christopher Hynes
September 12 - 28, 2025
Exhibition Public Reception:
September 12th, 2025 – 5:30PM – 7PM in the Community Gallery 6 pm choir performance by the group “Good Company”
6:15 pm Artist Talk
Performers:
Good Company is a premier women’s ensemble, bringing together women of all ages and walks of life to share the beauty of choral music in Ames. A small group of Good Company members will be performing two works by Hildegard of Bingen, under the direction of Steve Hoifeldt.
Artist Statement:
“There is a little bit of something in everything and that is what I like to explore.”
My work is all about storytelling–my Assemblages, Sculptures, Collages, and Pigmented Plasters all bear a narrative element. Through observing, reinterpreting, repurposing, and reimagining objects, materials and artifacts, I create visual poems that are sometimes political and serious, sometimes whimsical and humorous, but always with purpose and intent. When I’m in my studio everything I need is there and the universe is perfect.
At the heart of each piece is an orb within a square, symbolically enclosed by a gilt cross. These simple yet powerful forms are inspired by Hildegard’s Benedictine tradition, evoking spiritual balance, the intersection of the earthly and the divine, and the cyclical nature of spiritual growth. The gold reflects spiritual awareness. Hildegard explained that her visions were not observed by the senses but within her soul, opened to experience. She called it “the reflection of the living light” and said it was “not spatial, but far, far brighter than a cloud which carries the sun. The three larger square paintings, 48″ x 48”, have an orb in a secondary color on a field of blended primary and secondary colors. These paintings symbolize Hildegard’s visions of the great unknown cosmos and her mystical experiences of astral travel. The orbs serve as metaphors for Hildegard’s visions and meditations on the divine order of the cosmos, which she documented in her manuscripts. These orbs also evoke the mystical nature of her “Music of the Spheres,” an ancient and medieval philosophical idea where the movements of celestial bodies are not random but instead follow a harmonious and ordered system, stirring with life. As she writes in her final text, The Book of Divine Works: “the waters flow as if alive, and the sun lives within its own light, and when the moon has waned it is rekindled by the light of the sun and thereby lives anew, and the stars shine forth in their own light as though alive.”‘ The final three paintings are horizontal works, measuring 24×48, inspired by the trio of musicians’ free improvisations that run throughout the jazz composition. The three primary colors in these pieces mirror the fluid and spontaneous nature of improvisation, where distinct yet interconnected elements come together to create a cohesive whole. The paintings have a visual reference to Physica, Hildegard’s treatises on medicinal plants, recording one of the first compendiums of European plants that offered insight into their herbal properties and their use as remedies.
Artist Biography:
Christopher Hynes is the youngest of 10 children and grew up in Washington, D.C. around artists, writers, and politicos. As a young man he was a studio assistant for several Washington artists. He also worked in an archival frame shop but, mostly, he played in rock and roll bands. In 1988 he turned to the visual arts full time. He is mostly self-taught and has had numerous group and one-man shows in Texas, New York, D.C., and other cities. His work is in many private collections across the United States. He’s lived in Austin since 1984.
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