5.The Distinctive Character of Spatial Forms as Inspiring Imaginative Activity in the Work of Maltwood and Wenger

The work of Maltwood and Wenger is particularly apt for an inquiry along these lines because both of them employ artistic forms as well as sensitivity to the distinctive character of the landscapes they interpret. In deploying imaginative strategies in their interpretation of these geographical spaces, Wenger, explicitly, and Maltwood, implicitly, testify to the numinous character of the landscapes that inspire their activities through the distinctive personalities manifested in their geographical forms. In their work, therefore, the experiences of imaginative interpretation as described by Armstrong as well as a recognition of the incarnation of the numinous in forms external to the perceiving subject, as depicted by Otto, would seem to be evident. We note, however, that the subtle distinctions between the cognitive processes that have motivated their work are also relevant for an inquiry into the variety of modes of access to or apprehension of the sacred

Wenger depicts her perception of these elements of cosmological character with reference to the Oshun Forest in Nigeria by developing sculptural works, which in their form and through their location in the forest, suggest the character of the forest as a metaphysical space. Maltwood, on the other hand, employs the imaginative correlation between spatial forms as perceived in maps in relation to the astrological signs of the Zodiac as a means of demonstrating her conception of the cosmological significance of the landscape in and around the town of Glastonbury in England.