Ksenia Buridanova
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Signed giclée print on archival paper of the original oil painting by Ksenia Buridanova. Limited to 21 signed and numbered editions.
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'Mysteria Memetica' is a visual initiation and a modern teleology that interprets web culture through the lens of mystical experience perceived by the central figure. The flame emerging from his chest is a manifestation of the divine. The title references the Eleusinian Mysteries (lat. Mysteria Eleusinia), where initiates gained access to sacred truth through symbolic death and rebirth. Here, the surrounding figures represent adepts of various hierarchical ranks. The frog in the laurel wreath is Kekius Maximus, a silent witness to the initiation; the hooded bird-like man is a psychopomp, a guide between worlds; and the dog-headed creature is Saint Christopher Cynocephalus. The vessel at the bottom is the kykeon, the sacred drink of the Eleusinian Mysteries, consumed by initiates before entering the sanctuary. Together they support the central figure of the hierophant, symbolizing that ecstasy is impossible outside of a community — the mystery requires witnesses and participants. The painting suggests that we live in an era where memes have replaced myths, and digital artifacts have become the new mysteries — cults for the initiated, requiring rituals (mining, minting, sharing), faith, and the ecstatic experience of virality.
