The creation of this work begins with long walks on the sand of a deserted beach and memories of strange shells and unexpected sea creatures.
Johan Creten lived in Florida and drew nature, modeling small studies in clay.
The images of these intriguing sea urchins were then mixed with long-buried memories of times spent in churches in Rome, while residing at the Villa Medici.
The structure of a shell resembles the luminous stained glass windows behind the altar in a room in Tosca,
The rays of the spirit behind Bernini's canopy in St. Peter's Basilica,
The sudden spark of knowledge, a divine revelation, a glorious light,
The ceiling of Giotto's Scrovegni Chapel in Padua
The sun rays in an Egyptian tomb, Akhenaten worshipping the sun.
But they also reveal darker secrets, the hidden cavities of the body, the forbidden regions of the undergrowth,
Dozens of spirals of ferns and strange holes in ancient walls,
in the most unexpected places.
This limit,
where the profane touches, overlaps and mingles with the sacred
This is where the wonderful energy of Johan Creten's Glory Series finds its source.
What is glory?
What is success?
What is achievement?