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THE ART OF SATORI
Exquisite sculptures by day and sparkling jewels of light by night, these works of art are an invitation to higher consciousness and inspire the "instant awakening" that Satori represents.
CHRIS GUTZEIT
Since his upbringing in Hawaii to his current residence in Santa Barbara, California, thirty-six-year-old Chris Gutzeit has viewed art as a portrayal of spiritual and environmental awareness. Utilizing interior lighting and reflective glass throughout "The Art of Satori" collection, Chris stimulates a world of meanings and emotions, allowing parallels and interpretations to belong to the eye of each individual. Each piece is an exquisite sculpture by day that transforms into a stunning jewel of light by night.
Recently honored as one of Hawaii's top five celebrated artists by 'In Magazine', Chris Gutzeit's work has been placed on exhibition throughout Hawaii and the mainland. His collections have been displayed at the Wyland fine art and virtual galleries and a wide range of public and private art exhibitions throughout the United States.
With an art scholarship from BYU-Hawaii, Chris gained inspiration through the disciplines of sculpture and painting. Influenced by his father's passion towards the marine world and his mother's dedication towards 'mind, body, heart and spirit', Chris learned to channel his creative energy into his artistic endeavors. A natural craftsman and outdoor adventurer, Chris has organically combined his hands-on style and Fine Arts education, in the process, unraveling a new dimension of artistic expression. His fresh perspective can be seen in his unique ability to incorporate natural elements throughout the framework of each piece.
Disciplines through the lessons of surfing and kitesurfing and having the privilege of assisting numerous marine institutes, Chris strives to strengthen the bond between humankind and 'mother-nature'. After spending over twenty-eight years in the outdoors of the North Shore of Hawaii, Chris and his family returned to California to be close to his grandparents. As an active member of the Santa Barbara community, Chris takes pride in promoting environmental awareness and natural wildlife and allows this passion to be reflected throughout the landscape of his artwork.
Images are only perceived through the consideration of light, in darkness there is nothing to be seen: and in these remarkable pieces a unique, shifting, illuminating dance of light is both medium and message, it is their very vehicle, their essence, their substance. It is only after that initial, first impact that one is slowly aware, through the unfolding waves of subtle parallels to Buddhism.s Four Noble Truths, that these glowing, meticulously constructed wonders sum up so many of the aesthetic and spiritual ideas of Eastern and Western thought. Yet ultimately, the first impression is the correct one, they stand on their own, not as ideas or as spiritual guides but as magical, spine-tingling objects.
Where once figurative forms and concrete imagery were elements of his works, Gutzeit has moved on into the ghostly realms where the human senses have only vague reference points and three-dimensional thinking is left wanting. People say the soul cannot be seen. Yet, these pieces are souls that can be seen as profoundly as the viewer's soul will allow his eyes to see through myriad colors and "white light" that very subtly suggest a palette of infinite coloration.
Gutzeit has been confronting the infinite since his formative years when the Pacific Ocean rather than art was his passion. Like our collective ancestor, the artist has always looked to the ocean for understanding if not solace. His love of water and the environment inhabit his work. They reflect his familiarity for the vastness of space as well as for the infinitesimal orbit of the ocean depth. His current works frequently construct fanciful yet very real connections between them.
These connections are explored much as the teachings and experiences of the Tibetan mandalas are. Working from the inside out, striving to create a meditational atmosphere they can be interpreted through the external, the internal and the alternative. The external concerning itself with the laws of time and space of this physical world and the internal concerning itself with the elements and structure of the human body, including its energy system. The alternative is the doctrine, the path of our actual meditational energy that guides us through life's infinite journey.
In the end, his unique work strives - and succeeds - in casting a shimmering light on perception and illuminating the portal of expanding consciousness that is the only path down which human survival can be assured.
"Chris Gutzeit's pieces are mesmerizing! They are executed with fine craftsmanship, unique found objects and non-traditional uses of light and space. We love our creation because it is a blend of functional, ecological and beautiful elements all into one."
Jack and Kim Johnson
Music Icon
"Chris' piece is indescribable. At first glimpse, it is beautiful in and of itself... the colors, the crystals... but then you look straight to the center it becomes magical and captivating. Magical in the sense... how does he do that... how did he create that?
Just beautiful! I love it."
Shelly Preston
President
Hollywood NOTE Foundation
"The Art of Satori is an evocative, luminescent composition of light and color, drawing one into its spiraling progression of jewel-like depth, into its deep, sea-like stillness."
Patrice Saenz
Lighting Director
Forest Gump / The Matrix
"Awesome...Chris Gutzeit's art is a window into a world of infinite creativity."
Shaun Tomson
1977 World Champion of Surfing
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