Another Memory of Language

New Paintings by Christopher Engel

July 23 – August 13, 2026
Reception: Saturday, July 25, 5-6:30

There exists a language older than words. It is spoken by the sky before dawn, by rivers finding their course, by rain falling upon the earth, by stars tracing invisible pathways across the night, and by the ancient symbols that have appeared in dreams, myths, and sacred traditions throughout human history. It is a language that can be seen, heard, and deeply felt. A universal language that has always existed beneath the surface of everyday life.

Another Memory of Language brings together a remarkable collection of abstract and figurative paintings by Christopher Engel, revealing two complementary pathways into this timeless source of wisdom.
Engel’s abstract works explore the living intelligence of the natural world. Through layered color, gestural mark-making, rhythmic patterns, and calligraphic forms, the paintings evoke the language of landscapes; not as representations of place, but as expressions of the unseen energies that animate the earth. The sky, oceans, forests, rain, seasons, and stars become living conversations, revealing patterns that resemble maps, musical scores, poems, and forgotten alphabets. These works suggest that nature is constantly communicating with us, if only we are willing to slow down and listen.

Alongside these landscapes are Engel’s striking figurative paintings, populated by iconic faces, archetypal figures, saints, prophets, pilgrims, guardians, and mythic beings. Rather than portraits of individuals, these figures embody universal human experiences that transcend culture and time. They inhabit a symbolic world where sacred icons, ancient imagery, and contemporary expression merge into visual narratives that speak directly to the psyche.

These paintings draw upon the work of Carl Gustav Jung, whose exploration of archetypes and the collective unconscious has profoundly influenced Engel’s artistic vision. Having studied Jung’s work extensively as a Creative Arts Therapist, Engel understands these enduring images not simply as religious or historical symbols, but as living psychological realities that continue to shape the human imagination. They emerge repeatedly across civilizations because they belong to a shared inner inheritance; a universal language carried within every human being.

Whether depicting an expansive field of abstract marks or an iconic human presence, Engel is exploring the same essential question:
What have we forgotten?

For thousands of years, Indigenous peoples understood the earth as alive with meaning. Mountains, rivers, seasons, animals, and stars were not merely objects to be observed but teachers whose wisdom could be experienced directly. Likewise, myths, rituals, and sacred images were not decorative; they were maps of human consciousness, guiding individuals toward wholeness and transformation. Modern civilization, increasingly mediated by technology and distraction, has become disconnected from these deeper languages. Christopher Engel’s paintings invite us to remember.

Engel’s paintings are ultimately acts of remembrance. Their recurring forms resemble ancient scripts, sacred diagrams, celestial maps, dream imagery, and visual poetry. They encourage viewers not merely to observe, but to participate; to encounter the artwork as one might encounter a landscape, a dream, or a myth whose meaning unfolds slowly over time.

Another Memory of Language reflects Engel’s profound exploration of the universal source that unites cultures, religions, histories, and landscapes. Through his paintings, Christopher Engel invites us to reconnect with that shared source.

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