Matters of the Spirit

"We live in succession, in division, in parts, in particles.  Meantime within man is the soul of he whole; the wise silence; the universal beauty. to which every part and particle is equally related; the eternal One. And this deep power in which we exist, and whose beautitude is all accessible to us, is not only self-sufficing and perfect in every hour, but the act of seeing and the thing seen, the seer and the spectacle, the subject and the object are one." "The Oversoul" essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tree Stories: Old Soul, 2020, soft pastels on 19.5 x 25 Indian (shizen) paper

After reviewing ten pieces from the Tree Stories series,  a patron who serves on the Creative Capital board wrote, "I've noticed that you are particularly interested in the structural aspects of a tree or branch that has been severed.  Your tree series has a weight to it, a sense of mass and weight."  Then he offered a definition of matter: "Noun, physical substance in general, as distinct from mind and spirit; (physics) that which occupies space and possesses mass especially as distinct from energy."  He continued, "you seem to be working within the confluence between the spiritual and the physical. It's very interesting to me that by definition matter is distinct from the mind and the spirit.  And yet you have chosen to depict mass in order to convey spirituality.  This to me is the interesting question to mark..."

As all creators know, there is the art and what it means to the creator, and then there is the interpretation of others.  I struggle with over contextualizing my work, because I believe that as long as one is pulled-in and emotionally moved by the work, it's all good.   In addition, our own artistic expression changes continually, the way we see our own work changes daily. Just looking at one of my pieces from a different angle, alters how I feel about it.  Sometimes, when I look at a piece I did a few years back, I find associations I had not made when I first drew the image and thus its meaning also changes.  Hence, how we contextualize is framed by time.

Photo of stump I saw while walking in Shelter Island, NY which later became Tree Story: Old Soul.

For me, trees are not "things," they are not a "what," but rather, a who, a being.  Yes, they are matter, but they are also, Spirit.  There is no dualism.   As beings, they communicate, through scent, roots, branches and as a collective.  I recently read The Hidden Life of Trees and Braiding Wheatgrass, two wonderful books which further explain the science behind how trees, and plants in general, communicate.   It just happens that I walk around tuning my eyes  to their souls, consciousness, Spirit. 

This consciousness lives in a continuum, a sacred time-space, always in transformation.  When I see trees, especially when they are broken-open, severed, or damaged, I get to see these souls in transition.  I get a glimpse at what they once were, previous lives, the remains of their story.  Much like an open Egyptian casket of a king or queen, where one would see a skeleton and the things they loved around them, in this case, it is not a casket, it is a spirit being in its natural setting, and around it,  other earthly spirits.  All is energy.  In both of these examples, the Egyptian casket and the tree,  a narrative appears which references how they lived, possibly who or what they loved.  

​How do I capture these stories? First, I take pictures during mindful, meditative walks, of trees, stumps, trunks, that have an interesting form, texture, color or composition.  At the moment I take the picture, I don't necessarily see all the intricacies of the image.   It is only when I begin to draw it, that the story appears.    The best word I can find to explain this creative process is, alchemy. It is in the seeing that I too am transformed.  

It is my hope that my art awakens the viewer to their connection to the natural world and inspires a sense of belonging and community.  Click to see more of my Tree Stories.  

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AMO

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