Seems a while since I last chatted here. Currently, I have about four projects I am dabbling with. I believe this is a transition time for my work and that is why I have so many different ideas I am trying out. This is a good thing for an artist. We get to points in our work where both the work and the artist is evolving and things can get a bit strange here. It is the flexibility to try and fail that makes us grow. Trying new things that may not work now, but we may possibly come back to these ideas later, and with a more clear head.
I have noticed that sometimes I work on a project as a sort of meditation. My “Land” project seems to be one of these. It really is tangent to two other ideas I am playing with. One is about how place and person are interconnected (my Mannequin series I will talk more about later) and the other touches on larger issues of how we use and are connected to the land. Possibly, how transient our existence is here in the larger scope of the land as a persistent entity.
Fence
The image above, Fence, is about a sort of intertwining of land and sky with the crow connecting us to the land. Ravens are messengers in many forms in my images. They can also be tricksters trying to show us the ironies of life. The fence divides yet somehow becomes a lyrical element in the land. Even though we may try and own and contain the land, it incorporates and changes our attempts at defining it.
Field
Field,the image above, was the first image in my series. It felt poetic for me and how I feel about the land. There is this vast and endless organic presence topped by the etherial. Being in the land calms and soothes us somehow. Ask anyone who is stressed how they feel after taking a walk in the woods and they will say they feel better. I believe part of our suffering modern culture is created by our disconnection with the land. It feels like cutting your hand off somehow. We truly are part of the earth and need to stay connected and interactive with her. This image felt like meditation for me. I still can look at it for hours on end.
Trees
Ahhhh, Trees! I wasn’t sure about this image and frankly I still go back and forth on it. Many friends really love this image and it always confounds me on what they see. I created this for many reasons, one being the symmetry of the land. In this image it opens with three fence posts and moves to two trees in one image. It is sort of like a triad. It also has three levels in the dry grass, the green field and the blue sky. Three is important here and in life. Three is the Trinity, family (mother, father & child) and the balancing element that frees the tension of two.
Ok, so the Landseries is about connection with land both spiritual and physical. After all, we cannot live without the land. There are more images in the series on my site. If you are interested, you can mosey on over there and check them out. It is still an unfinished series as of yet. The big idea for me is the spiritual element and connection…something wonderful can happen at any moment.
