The Transition Artist

“We often forget that we are nature. Nature is not something separate from us. So when we say we have lost our connection to nature, we’ve lost our connection to ourselves.” – Andy Goldsworthy

I recently watched a documentary called Rivers and Tides that showcases the work of Andy Goldsworthy (pictured above – from google), who uses only natural elements to create art. The way that he works is incredible because he does things slowly, respecting natural processes and allowing the elements to decide how a project will turn out. I was assigned to do an Andy Goldsworthy-inspired project for my Art Experience class, so yesterday afternoon on my way back from class, I found myself gathering a myriad of colored leaves and heading toward  Sevier, my favorite park.

I’ve always felt extremely drawn toward trees, which might be part of the reason I like Sevier, where the spread-out trees stand tall and regal. I admire and respect them for their slow and steady growth, their strength, and the way that they exemplify what it means to live. In many ways, trees are like the wisest, oldest men of the world, and I believe firmly that there are many lessons to be learned from them, but it takes patience, contemplation, and a little wisdom to understand those lessons. I wanted some of the lessons that the trees have taught me to be reflected in my project, so I began my brainstorming by thinking about what those are and came up with the list below.

1.  Like trees, our roots are reflected in our branches. We color our lives with the hues of our youth, our experiences, and the ideas that result.

2. Though at times it feels like parts of us die, our roots will always hold fast beneath the surface, keeping us standing straight and tall, even as the winds and storms batter us.

3. We may have the smoothest, most beautiful exterior or the most hardened and rough bark, but inside is beauty, reflecting the years we’ve lived and the tests of time we’ve faced.

4. Our branches may break and the colors of our leaves may fade, but the tide of life will continue to pulse in and out, rushing from root to twig, promising that even in death it will nourish again.

5. When my trunk crumbles down, revealing the circles within, to the dirt I will return, meeting my roots once again.

In picking apart and really thinking about these lessons, I feel more connected with nature, and find Goldworthy’s quote from the beginning of this post extremely relevant. People can give you a hundred reasons as to why they don’t really want to spend time outside, and maybe some of them are valid, but those people are missing the lessons that the greatest artist has revealed. Life is incredibly beautiful, and the connections that can be made with it are best done outside, where it thrives and pulses. I would argue that everyone has to experience this and understand it for themselves, but will share what I have taken away:

We are really quite small, in a world so big that it could swallow us whole, but we each share the commonality of life and should reflect and radiate it in love and appreciation for our surroundings, one another included, so that it can be seen and shared by all.