LAURA SUMMER
Painting the Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz
May 16-June 7, 2026

Painting the Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz is a solo exhibition of 26 paintings by Laura Summer inspired by the 16th century initiatory text, The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz. 

Richly metaphoric and spiritually profound, The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz is regarded as one of the central texts of Western esoteric tradition. Dense, symbolic, and demanding, it describes an initiatory journey through transformation, trial, and awakening. 

SPECIAL EVENTS:

  • Sat, May 16 at 6pm: Exhibition opening

  • Sat, May 23 at 7pm: Chymical Wedding poetic reading by Laurie Portocarrero

  • Thu, June 4 at 4pm: Chymical Wedding Panel discussion with Laura Summer, Soren Dietzel, Gloria Kemp, and Cordelia Schiller, followed by potluck with music by Soren Dietzel

  • Thu, June 4 at 5pm: A Musical Journey through the Chymical Wedding with Soren Dietzel and friends, followed by a potluck dinner

  • Sat, June 5 and Sun, June 6, 1-5pm: Art Dispersal of all 26 paintings

 

“The Chemical Wedding is obviously written to show serious seekers of the spirit the connection between the sense world and the spiritual world, and to explain to them the forces for social and moral life that can be awakened in the human soul through knowledge of the spiritual world.” ~Rudolf Steiner, The Secret Stream

Between September 2025 and March 2026, Laura Summer facilitated an online study group dedicated to working through the text in depth. The experience became the foundation for this body of work. “These paintings are the result of my study,” says Laura. She distilled the text into “moments of meaning that are universal to those on an initiatory spiritual path – not exclusive to christianity, anthroposophy, or any one belief system.”

The exhibition also functions as an Art Dispersal, a form developed by Summer through her work with Free Columbia, in which original artworks are entrusted to stewards rather than sold in the conventional sense. Participants may take a painting home for as long as they wish and return or pass it on when ready. Developed in response to limitations of the contemporary art market, the form seeks to allow art to actively live and work within human spaces. 

“Original work on a wall can transform a space,” Summer writes, “and it can also transform the people who are in those spaces.” Stewards are invited to support Free Columbia and Lightforms Art Center through voluntary contributions that sustain the conditions for creative work to circulate freely.

This exhibition is curated by Sampsa Pirtola and Zoï Doehrer, and presented in collaboration with Rudolf Steiner Library (www.rudolfsteinerlibrary.org). This exhibition is open Thur–Sun, 1–5pm.