Doorways as Thresholds
Barefoot Girl With Cat Florence Harrison
““There are two beings in a door; a door awakens in us a two-way dream, that is doubly symbolical.””
Emma Florence Harrison (1877-1955) was an artist from Australia. I see a young girl coming through a doorway with her little cat beside her. Doorway into story is a rich life to carry within. Doorways are a powerful threshold symbol. We are entering or leaving. A doorway closed is something we anticipate entering or contemplate - what is behind the door. Often we take for granted coming and going through these threshold moments. A doorway is an opportunity to pause. What are we entering - What are we leaving - What are we anticipating? We have entered a new place. Now we leave something of ourselves behind. Entering - we bring who we are in to the space.
“The threshold is the place of expectation”
Gaston Bachelard’s The Poetics of Space. This is a densely lyrical - almost magical book on our experience of architecture. I did a three study on this concept explored in Bachelard’s book, The Poetics of Space, in a three year Biography Work Training. Home - Dwelling - Poetics. I hope to share more here about how we live in our home places and home ways.