Carl Demeulenaere - Three Realms Triptych

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Three Realms Triptych

images only, L-R: 10” x 8”, 14” x 11” x ¼”, 8” x 9” x ⅛”

triptych formed in 2009

3 colored pencil drawings, acrylic, gold and aluminum leaf, leather, stained glass, brass, silver, rhinestones

The "Three Realms Triptych" was enclosed inside the installation titled "A Window Unto Three Realms" in 2009. "A Presence in Dreams," to the left, depicted my personal challenges with health and being a gay Catholic; "Beyond Other Worlds," in the center, heralded gay sainthood; and "The Past in Myth," to the right, was a rather androgynous evocation of my early adulthood. Further information about each drawing is provided below.

An image of "A Window Unto Three Realms" appears at the bottom, and viewers can click on it to get a more expansive view of the structure in the Exhibits/Installations section.

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A Presence in Dreams

10” x 8”

1987

colored pencil, acrylic, gold leaf, leather, rhinestones

A visual confrontation and reconciliation with God, “A Presence in Dreams” remains one of my pivotal works. It’s an example of what one writer coined “Gothic Realism,” which is a term I’ve embraced. The work was originally created in 1987, later becoming part of the “Three Realms Triptych” in 2009. Here, I’m the confronter (hand) and the confronted (female). The three, haloed shadows in the background are my Shadow Saints, rampaging through a landscape where a church has caught fire. The androgynous female is an extension of my gender-fluid self, which has been an ongoing theme since the 1980s. As an angry but reconciled gay Catholic, who literally suffers from migraines that distort my vision, the exclamatory inscription on the upheld hand, “WHERE IS GOD IN MY EYES,” has a two-fold meaning. I have also referred to this work as “A Subconscious Holy Land.”

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Beyond Other Worlds

14” x 11” x ¼”

1992

colored pencil, acrylic, brass, silver, stained glass

“Beyond Other Worlds” depicts a cosmonaut traveling through space. He wears a green jacket that encloses the Sacred Heart of Christ, framed in brass and made from stained glass and acrylic beads. Pink triangles, placed over the American flag on his epaulettes, reference the triangles worn by homosexuals in the concentration camps of WWII. One of my Shadow Saints stands behind him, robed in red, with a Pentecostal flame in her hand. A halo around his head reads “The Divine Homosexual;” this drawing has also been titled “The Saint.” He is my vision of a new saint for the ages. This drawing later became a part of the “Three Realms Triptych” in 2009. Originally, it was shown inside my first installation, "Refuge," in 1992.

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The Past in Myth

8” x 9” x ⅛”

1980

colored pencil, acrylic, gold and aluminum leaf

“The Past in Myth” depicts a Renaissance prophetess standing within an Italian landscape. Her mysterious gaze, androgynous features, and the sky’s moonbow create an air of mystery. A gold leafed Diana of Ephesus, surrounded by cypresses and pines in the background, speaks of her feminine prowess, while the astrological symbols on the red collar of her black garment hint at her mystical powers. This drawing has also been called “Woman in Black,” and it was later a part of the “Three Realms Triptych” in 2009. It was first shown, however, on the walls of the 2002 "Il Portico" installation.

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