Dark is a Way and Light is a Place (Norris Homes Interior Mural)

Dark is a Way and Light is a Place is a mural by Alison Dilworth about holding darkness and light all at once. The work combines symbolism and mythology in a visual narrative and exists in two parts: the interior mural in the lobby of the NC5, and the exterior mural on the wall leading to the Temple University train station. The title is from A Poem on His Birthday, by Dylan Thomas.

The exterior mural begins with oleander, a toxic plant that stops the heart and can be used medicinally to regulate heartbeat; oleander symbolizes loss and everlasting love in Greek mythology. The birch trees (symbols of beginning, renewal, protection) with pink sky (signaling imminent darkness) lead to an uprooted tree, a woman falling through the roots into darkness. The woman emerges from multiple mythologies in which curious women choose a path of wisdom and change the world by entering the unknown: Sky Woman, Eve, Alice, Miss Gloria, You. The Iroquois creation story speaks to the interconnection of beings in the world while the pregnant Sky Woman falls through the uprooted tree of life, clutching a handful of seeds on her way down, and is caught and supported by animals from the watery world below; Sky Woman dances in gratitude on the back of the turtle, scattering seeds to the soil expanding beneath her feet. Eve, from the Book of Genesis, chose consciousness over blindness by eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, falling from grace while taking up the struggle required of awareness. Alice, propelled by sheer curiosity, followed the white rabbit down the rabbit hole into a mysterious alternate reality. Miss Gloria left the segregated south with her family, guided by Father Divine’s mission of faith and racial unity; she gave Harlem and Philadelphia a life of humble love and generous spirit, sharing stories with people who came into her thrift shop. And you, in your own life, when called to take a journey into the unknown, and you bravely go. The entire mural emerges from a large envelope (which appears in the interior mural as a message in a bottle), pointing to a shipwreck in a stormy sea with clear skies close by.

The woman on the train exists in the interconnectedness of shadow and illumination: on the left, toxicity, the fall into the unknown, darkness, turbulence, bravery, a message, the shipwreck, and on the right, medicinal plants, flowers, and birth. A symbolic garden emerges: philodendron plants (forgiveness, health, abundance), gingko (unity of opposites, endurance, hope), camellias (longing, adoration, devotion), echinacea flowers (strength, health, immunity), prayer plants (daily prayer, reflective action, sensitivity to light and dark), sage (wisdom, purification), Mexican sunflower (fertility, worship, loyalty, and offering to the war gods), yarrow (protection, healing, lasting love), cornflowers (hope for the future), and a tiger lily (mercy, compassion, aggressive aspects of femininity). The journey ends with a birth, entering a world of darkness and light. But stillness and quiet best frame a picture, and will tell you what it means. This mural walks with you.

Location Note: This mural is located inside an apartment building and may not be available for public viewing.