Side PanelsThe repetition of the mandorla shape either side of St Wenna can be read as a multiplicity of perceived dualities that archetypally exercise our minds. Fishes / Loaves. Sea / Land. Meat / Vegetables. Blood / Body. Christ / His Church. The Mysterious / the Familiar. Active / Passive. The Infinite / The Measurable. The Transitory / The Permanent,
etc. Together the three panels make a trinity which can further be ruminated on for symbolic significance. Wenna as the spirit of the parish, the sea as protector, spiritual provider and route of development, the land as stable haven (and stable and heaven!) and provider of physical nourishment, etc. The poppies were chosen to represent perhaps the most significant human contribution and sacrifice of the 20th century - the World Wars that touched all human hearts world-wide right down to our own parish. The red does link to the red of the cross in the centre panel - red as sacrifice, as well as the Trenode connection. The busy blue glass of the fishes tail is an attempt to indicate some sort of electrical wave shape (similar to oscilloscope traces) that symbolise technological development and the electric age, the fish finder and the net (in two or more ways). It also balances out the poppies in the overall composition. |