Now Always Forever - Cruz Jimenez - 1-12 Oct 24

"Now Always Forever," serves as an exploration of the interconnectedness of our experience. Centred around the themes of spirit guides, allies, ancestors, and divinity, Cruz Jimenez invites viewers to reflect on their own journeys and the unseen forces that influence their lives.

At the heart of this exhibition is an invocation—a call for guidance and blessings. The invocation resonates deeply with our desire for connection and understanding. We are all caught between sensing that we come in and go out alone. And yet paradoxically we seek reassurance that we are not alone in our endeavour to find meaning in nour connections with family, friends, lovers and caregivers.  Cruz paints reminders that we are not alone in our endeavours; we are supported by a multitude of energies and histories of which we cannot know their true form. The request for guidance encapsulates our need to accept constant change. You might think we would by now become accustomed to endless cycles of birth and death, creation and destruction; that we would see our true will with greater clarity. But is seems we all live so close to the line/edge and so far from the security of blessings articulated—happiness, health, wisdom, wealth, pleasure, fun, protection, and peace. As we hope this is true, a shared collective hope, Cruz is aware that we are as easily distracted by understanding that much of what we take for certain  simply comes and goes. We mark change through lovers and possessions. Things to hold high, that still become lost or change beyond recognition. Looking to the realms of the spiritual Cruz asks that we stop, that we consider these paintings are collective tokens giving us access to the collective hopes that we share.

These paintings are a meditation these themes. Through vibrant colours to minimal Cruz draws upon cultural symbolism that speaks to the connections we share with our ancestors and position us in broader context. Cruz, reflecting on significant events in his life invites us to engage with our own histories and beliefs. Each painting is meditation aimed at creating a dialogue between what has past, what is now, and we cannot know is ahead of us. In the singular moments contained in each painting and collectively as a body of work, the  Now Always Forever serves as a form of visual meditation that Cruz suggests can encourage us to engage in contemplation on the role of spirit guides in our lives and the wisdom they impart. Cruz paints an invitation for us to reflect on the larger forces at play in our lives and the importance of gratitude and intention. By acknowledging our interconnectedness, our interdependence with the natural, with the spiritual and the universe, we are encouraged to act with mindfulness and compassion.

Cruz presents Now Always Forever as part of the means to empower ourselves to recognise the divine within us and our surroundings. This groups of works serves as a catalyst for personal reflection and communal connection, reminding us that our actions and intentions ripple through our worlds, affecting both ourselves and others. As visitors engage with Cruz Jimenez's art and the themes presented, they are invited to embody the blessings of happiness, health, wisdom, and peace, not only for themselves but for the well-being of all.