Secret Keys by Julio Sanchez
"Beyond the attempt"
80cm x 80cm Acrylic on canvas-2010
Persistent geometry, a distinctive palette, the absence of human figures, and a metaphysical atmosphere are some of the features that distinguish Federico Carbia's painting. Paths, walls, staircases, windows, and doorways appear repeatedly. Behind the apparent simplicity of these themes lie the oldest and most universal symbols of humankind. Let's examine some of them.
There are many arches with two columns and a crossbeam, in their simplest and most refined form. Traditionally, the arch marks a boundary between sacred and profane space. Throughout human history, we find diverse examples: the torii gates of Shinto Japan (like the one on Matsushima Island, near Hiroshima), the torana gates that surrounded the first Buddhist stupas in India (like those at Sanchi), and, of course, the triumphal arches of the Roman Empire through which victorious armies passed. The arch is a form of door (or portal) for accessing the sacred. Jesus himself says: “I am the gate for my sheep… I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved” (John 10:7-9). The arch-portals of Carbia are not ostentatious; rather, they are essential and preserve the fundamental structure of this form. Our artist also paints windows time and again; their symbolic function is analogous to that of the door, as they too mark a boundary between the sacred and the profane. We know the importance of stained glass in Gothic churches, and especially of the rose window on the facade. From the outside, in the profane realm, one can barely see the skeleton of stone and opaque glass, but when the faithful enter and view the rose window from within, the splendor of the glass bursts forth in all its color, as if seeing the world from a sacred perspective were imbued with a different hue. Some windows painted by Carbia seem to have escaped from the wall, even though they are still held up by ropes.
Brick walls are also frequent; the wall shelters and protects as if behind each one lay a hidden treasure, difficult to obtain. Carbia takes care to draw each brick individually, which amounts to considering the part that makes up the whole. Among the Freemasons, those ancient builders of medieval churches, it was essential to polish the rough stone so that it could fit into the wall, the uniformity that allowed a temple to be erected. In the later paintings, the checkerboard appears, a board formed by alternating black and white squares, like the squares on a chessboard or checkers board. The juxtaposition of black and white represents light and darkness, day and night, and therefore cosmic dualities, pairs of complementary opposites, as expressed by the Chinese symbol of yin and yang. Such symbolism has its counterpart in the Hindu tradition where the initiate must sit on a skin of black and white hairs, which allude respectively to the unmanifest and the manifest, an idea that reaches the famous Black Square on a White Background by Kasimir Malevich, leader of Russian Suprematism.
When observing each of Carbia's paintings, we see a handling of space in the manner of Renaissance perspective, with a rich palette of colors in harmony. In that ordered space and behind the apparent rigidity of the forms, of the strict geometry, the symbol emerges, which is the most fickle vehicle for expressing the most atavistic and vital concerns of the human being.
What other universal symbols do we find in his paintings? The circle and the square, or failing that, the rectangle, which is simply a doubled square. Both govern the duality of heaven and earth; the square is stable and fixed, there are four cardinal points, four seasons, and four elements; matter develops in space and time, and within them, the quaternary reigns. The stars describe a circle in their path (as seen from Earth), and the circle is an ancient symbol of the celestial. “God is a Circle whose center is everywhere, and whose circumference is nowhere,” affirmed Hermes Trismegistus, the mythical creator of the Emerald Tablet of the alchemists.
The path, which Carbia depicts as a route, is also another symbol of great significance in human history. Esoteric tradition conceives of life as a journey, with humankind as a "pilgrim" ("stranger" according to the Latin etymology) who departed from the Heavenly Homeland to walk through the material world and then return to their true home. Saint Augustine defined humankind as homo viator, a traveler on the journey (or returning) toward the other world. Sometimes Carbia's path appears blocked by a wall, although the portals located on either side seem to indicate that there is always an exit; at other times, it seems to vanish into infinity like those desert routes where there appears to be no end. In his paintings, Carbia clearly illustrates the difficulties of the path/life, full of obstacles, but also of unexpected exits.
Staircases are another element of this symbolic map. They appear straight and freestanding, and are of two types: a single-axis staircase with alternating steps on either side, or two parallel beams to which crossbeams are nailed. The staircase is a bridge to the higher realms, a symbol of spiritual ascent, since each step is a challenge to overcome. The biblical episode of Jacob's dream (Genesis 28:11-19) clearly illustrates the function of the staircase. Lying on a stone, Jacob dreamed that angels were ascending and descending a ladder, and Yahweh was at the top. "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven," Jacob said upon waking, and he poured oil on the stone that served as his pillow. In a broader sense, this is the cornerstone for building the inner temple and becoming a "true man," one who strives to transcend earthly limitations. There are several symbols of ascension, such as the tower, the tree, and the mountain, among others. In the metaphysical landscapes of Carbia there are triangular walls and pyramids, which are also axis mundi, axes that connect heaven and earth.
Julio Sanchez (2014)