The Trial of the Soul: A solo performance by Laurie Portocarrero from the 2nd Mystery Drama
In the second of the four mystery dramas written by Rudolf Steiner, we follow the familiar characters into greater complexities of crisis, as each meets the trial of soul he or she must pass. There are flashbacks to a shared former life in the middle ages, increased attacks by the great adversarial beings Lucifer and Ahriman, and the tightening of the unconscious karmic knot that ties them to one another.
All of these will be brought as a ninety-minute storytelling by actress Laurie Portocarrero, in the midst of the art exhibited currently at Lightforms.
Rudolf Steiner said that, in these four dramas, is contained and depicted all of the wisdom of the human being, all of anthroposophy. He said if we really lived with the imaginations in these dramas, he would not need to write the books or give the lectures. In these dramas is the story of our own human struggle to develop and evolve beyond the forces that hinder us, toward true brotherly and spiritual love and the true community of the future.
Comments from the storytelling of the 1st Mystery Drama: "...I love that the characters came to life, as people who we know and care about..." "...Told in the storyteller's own words, this complex drama becomes relatable and graspable..." "...Filled with humor and life..."
Artist presentation by Peter Elsner (hybrid event)
Please note: This is a hybrid event: you may attend online or in-person at Lightforms Art Center. Email info@lightformsartcenter.com to register for the online viewing link and for more details.
Peter Elsner approaches art as a form of research to “penetrate deeper into the different levels of nature and spirit,” making the invisible visible. His multimedia practice, which includes photography, performance, digital art, and installation, centers on transformation and metamorphosis.
“For me, creative activity in the field of art was always like [being] on a sailboat that connected me to different directions of inner and outer being,” Elsner writes. He studied visual arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Braunschweig (1980), and transformation and metamorphosis at the Goethean Studies Center in Vienna (1989).From 1990-1997 he taught drawing, painting, and modeling at the Goethean Studies Center in Vienna, and from 1998-2022 he was a lecturer and teacher at Snellman-korkeakoulu in Helsinki.
"Color In Your Life - Can It Heal?" Presentation by Mariola Strahlberg
We are surrounded by light and darkness. Colors exist as the result of light. We enjoy colors in our environment - plants, clothing, food, wall paints. Our inner world of emotions reacts to light and color even if we are not conscious of them. Science is slowly coming to understand and accept color and light as a healing modality. They are coming to it by a very long route but we will explore it by shortest possible route – we will look within. To understand how color can be used as a healing modality, we will go back in history, realize how much was known, how much was suppressed over the centuries, and how we can use it today thanks to many courageous people who believed all along that “we are born of light, we live in light, and we die in light” (saying by Osho). These teachers spent decades teaching and documenting about healing of various known and unknown malaises.
Mariola Strahlberg has been using color and light in her acupuncture and children’s practice for over 25 years. She became aware of her won sensitivity to light, weeks after college, while working at Bell Labs under fluorescent lights and having experiences with electronic devices. Many years later, in her acupuncture practice, in her search to help children with their health, learning and behavioral issues, she met many teachers who deepen her understanding that both color and light are tools that can be helpful when science has no answers. Come with an open mind, wear your favorite color, and take a trip into light and color world.
Lecture on Metamorphosis by Peter Elsner (hybrid event)
Please note: This is a hybrid event: you may attend online or in-person at Lightforms Art Center. Email info@lightformsartcenter.com to register for the online viewing link and for more details.
Peter Elsner studied visual arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Braunschweig (1980), and transformation and metamorphosis at the Goethean Studies Center in Vienna (1989).From 1990-1997 he taught drawing, painting, and modeling at the Goethean Studies Center in Vienna, and from 1998-2022 he was a lecturer and teacher at Snellman-korkeakoulu in Helsinki.
Elsner’s research into metamorphosis has resulted in both artworks and publications. His books include Metamorphosis in Nature and Art, published by Hawthorn Press in 2013, HOMO LUDENS (2021), and Grundlagen zur Metamorphosengestaltung (2010 and 2025). His work continues to investigate transformation as both an artistic process and a fundamental principle of nature.
https://www.peter-elsner.com/
Lecture by Rick Harlow
Rick Harlow is a painter whose works are on view at Lightforms currently. Since 1986, he has spent much of his life among the indigenous peoples of Colombia, beginning in the Amazon with the Makuna and Yucuna, who first showed him how to build a deeper relationship with the natural world. Since 2008, he has worked closely with the Traditional Elders, or “Mamos,” of the Kogui, Arhuaco, and Wiwa peoples of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in northern Colombia, supporting the preservation of their traditional practices.
In turn, the Mamos have shared with Harlow the “occult science” of their Law of Origin, teaching him, in his words, “to study nature, to see past the form and shape of things and perceive the energy that permeates all life.” This is what the Kogui Mamos call “The Invisible World.” The paintings in this exhibition emerge from that orientation: an investigation into and a manifestation of the understanding held by indigenous cultures around the world that everything is alive and contains its own energy.
Harlow will share more about his experiences at this lecture, and you will have an opportunity to ask questions, too.
A presentation on Non-Violent Communication (NVC) with Gail McManus
Gail McManus is a communications counselor and mediator with training in Nonviolent Communication (NVC), New York State mediation, psychosynthesis, spiritual psychology, biographical counseling, and Waldorf education.
NVC, developed by Marshall Rosenberg, focuses on observation, feelings, needs, empathic listening, and clear requests to support understanding and constructive conflict resolution.
Gail is also a painter, bringing themes of balance, harmony, and personal transformation into both her artistic and professional work.
https://gailmcmanus.com/testimonials/
EXHIBITION OPENINGS
The opening of our next four exhibitions featuring Rick Harlow, David Garland, Leif Garbisch, and Peter Elsner.
Exploring the Esoteric in Contemporary Art lecture by Karen Fitzgerald
Saturday, July 25 at 3pm: Exploring the Esoteric in Contemporary Art
Karen Fitzgerald will give a lecture on Exploring the Esoteric in Contemporary Art, discussing contemporary artists working in the vein that includes an esoteric approach to aesthetics.
Painting workshop with Martina Angela Müller
Sunday, July 19 from 10am-1pm: Painting workshop with Martina Angela Müller
Join Martina Angela Müller for a painting workshop - all supplies included!
Sliding scale of $40-60 for participation. ADVANCE REGISTRATION REQUIRED. Email info@lightformsartcenter.com to register!
The Trial of the Soul Solo performance by Laurie Portocarrero
The Trial of the Soul Solo performance by Laurie Portocarrero: a 90-minute storytelling of Rudolf Steiner's second mystery drama.
In the second of the four mystery dramas written by Rudolf Steiner, we follow the familiar characters into greater complexities of crisis, as each meets the trial of soul he or she must pass. There are flashbacks to a shared former life in the middle ages, increased attacks by the great adversarial beings Lucifer and Ahriman, and the tightening of the unconscious karmic knot that ties them to one another.
All of these will be brought as a ninety-minute storytelling by actress Laurie Portocarrero, in the midst of the breath-taking art exhibited currently at Lightforms.
Rudolf Steiner said that In these four dramas, is contained and depicted all of the wisdom of the human being, all of Anthroposophy. He said if we really lived with the imaginations in these dramas, he would not need to write the books or give the lectures. In these dramas is the story of our own human struggle to develop and evolve beyond the forces that hinder us, toward true brotherly and spiritual love and the true community of the future.
Come on July 16th, and hear one of the chapters of our shared Story.
Comments about the first storytelling: ".......I love that the characters came to life, as people who we know and care about......Told in the storyteller's own words, this complex drama becomes relatable and graspable......Filled with humor and life,"
Lecture by Martina Angela Müller
Perspectives on Angelic Activity through Artistic Inquiry
Please join Martina Angela Müller for a lecture on the Nine Angelic Hierarchies and her artistic exploration of them through ten large scale paintings currently on view at Lightforms.
Laurie Portocarrero: Exploring the first mystery drama
Exploring the first mystery drama with Laurie Portocarrero
Art Dispersal
Sunday, June 7 from 1-5pm: Art Dispersal
Laura Summer’s Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz paintings will be available through an "Art Dispersal" on a sliding scale of $0-300. Take home one or take home many!
Art Dispersal is a form developed by Laura 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.
All contributions support Free Columbia and Lightforms Art Center.
Consider the Lillies: drawing workshop with Lizzy Marshall
Consider the Lilies: A Drawing Workshop with Lizzy Marshall
11am - 1pm Sunday, June 7
Sliding scale $25 - $45. ADVANCE REGISTRATION REQUIRED! info@lightformsartcenter.com
In this workshop, we will make observational drawings of lilies, both living and “dead.” Through direct observation of the plant, we will practice directing our attention solely to the lily, attempting to empty the mind of all other preoccupations in order to observe with complete objectivity. After a period of focused looking, we will draw what we see. Beginning with gesture and then articulating form through line, we will first draw the decomposing flower and then the living flower. We will close with reflection and discussion. The workshop includes a demonstration.
All levels are welcome. Charcoal and paper will be provided. Please bring any additional materials you wish to use, including pastel, colored pencil, ink, or watercolor.
Art Dispersal
Saturday, June 6 from 1-5pm: Art Dispersal
Laura Summer’s Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz paintings will be available through an "Art Dispersal" on a sliding scale of $0-300. Take home one or take home many!
Art Dispersal is a form developed by Laura 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.
All contributions support Free Columbia and Lightforms Art Center.
The Refugee's Tale (Green Snake and Beautiful Lily)
Friday, June 5 at 7pm: The Refugees’ Tale by Glen Williamson & Laurie Portocarrero
Join us to experience Glen Williamson and Laurie Portocarrero's interpretation of Goethe’s The Green Snake and Beautiful Lily.
Rembrandt lecture by Kristin Beth Powers
Rembrandt: The Awakening of the Inner Human
A lecture by Kristin Beth Powers
The Refugee's Tale (Green Snake and Beautiful Lily)
Thursday, June 4 at 7pm: The Refugees’ Tale by Glen Williamson & Laurie Portocarrero
Join us to experience Glen Williamson and Laurie Portocarrero's interpretation of Goethe’s The Green Snake and Beautiful Lily.
A concert based on the Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz
Thursday, June 4 at 5pm: Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz concert and light performance
Explore each day of The Chymical Wedding through colored light and instrumental composition. Soren Dietzel (alto sax), Farranika Barnum (piano), Anders Pitman (lights) and Ruth Plumb (cello) will bring this medieval tale to life.
Following the performance, there will be a potluck.
Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz panel with Laura Summer
Thursday, June 4 at 4pm: Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz panel
Join Laura Summer, Soren Dietzel, Cordelia Schiller, and Gloria Kemp for a panel discussion in relation to Laura's paintings of the Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz, currently on view at Lightforms.
Sampsa Pirtola: artistic and curatorial lecture
Friday, May 29 at 7pm: Greatest of All Secrets
Join us for an artist talk with Sampsa Pirtola, artist and curator at Lightforms.
Sampsa Pirtola's abstract experimental video work, Salaisuuksista Suurin [The Greatest of All Secrets], which is on view at Lightforms, is a mysterious and allegorical narrative that tells the story of a young magician encountering an old magician—one imprisoned for life, the other free. Through this encounter, the film unfolds as a mythological journey across cultures whose traditions are built upon an immense lie. Parallels can be drawn to many archetypal stories, including the Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz.
Accompanied by a richly atmospheric score by Aino Peltomaa and Harmony of the Spheres from Finland, the work weaves together breathtaking abstract imagery and symbolic storytelling. Pirtola’s striking and beautiful experimental video sequences guide the viewer through shifting states of perception.
Lightforms Art Center is located at 743 Columbia St, Hudson, NY.
Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz
Saturday, May 23 at 7pm: Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz
A poetic reading by Laurie Portocarrero of The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosencreuz, anno 1459: a modern poetic version, attributed to Johann Valentin Andreä.
Lightforms Art Center is located at 743 Columbia St, Hudson, NY.
The Art of the Heart: The Etheric Heart & Eternal Art
Friday, May 22 at 7pm: The Art of the Heart: The Etheric Heart & Eternal Art
Join us for a lecture and presentation by Lucien Dante Lazar. Lucien is an interdisciplinary artist whose praxis lives within the intersections of art, science, and spirituality. A central theme in his work is initiation through the etheric heart—a spirituality founded in love, attention, creativity, and outer and inner world research. Lucien is currently studying at Eurythmy Spring Valley.
Lightforms Art Center is located at 743 Columbia St, Hudson, NY.