Of Ages

Of Ages explores the passage from the earliest forms of human expression toward the development of language and order. The rough carved upper portion of the painting is chaotic, with primitive drawings made by early humans emerging through a cloudlike haze.

As the painting descends, the imagery becomes increasingly ordered. Vertical sequences of alphabets from different cultures replace the primitive markings, suggesting the development of language and the human impulse to give structure and meaning to experience. The cloudlike haze connects these earliest marks with the ordered systems of written language below.

At the center of the painting is a dark arch that extends downward as the edges of the carving become regular and squared. Within the arch is a distant opening of blue sky and clouds.

Surrounding the painting and throughout the top are red fissures and vein-like markings carrying the suggestion of inner life running through the passage of ages. The carved surface, with its weathered textures and layers of ochre, umber, and mineral gray, reinforces the sense of time accumulated in the work.

In Of Ages, Reinike brings together the earliest marks of human expression, the emergence of written language, and the enduring force of human life. What begins in chaos gradually becomes ordered, readable, and purposeful, moving toward the opening within the arch.

---

Below: Of Ages in a contemporary home.