The courage of the seed
All the buried seeds crack open in the dark
the instant they surrender to a process they can’t see.
The courage of the seed is that once cracking, it cracks all the way.
(Mark Nepo, The book of awakening)
The sculptures about to represent the movement of opening up. A process of transformation that mostly takes place from within and invisible to the eye. Often it is initiated by an external influence. In the case of seeds, ‘being moved’ by something external such as water, wind, fire or the warming of the earth in the spring.This phenomenon also applies to processes of change in human life, as expressed in the question ‘What moved you to do that?’. From my experience I would describe the process of opening up as a movement of letting go of that which gives me a sense of grip. While trusting that once released, the thing I was holding on to will now hold and sustain me.
The shape of the sculptures about to 1 to 3 could be seen as both an organic form (nut or fruit) and a human form (buttocks and pelvis). Structures found in fruit peel and bark skin inspired me for the patterns of the carving in about to 1 and 2. For the third piece which is in the process of creation, I took inspiration from the way sand is opened by the influence of wind and water.
All sculptures have been carved entirely by hand. They are not anchored to their surface and, when set in motion by a gentle push, they find their balance from a rocking cadence.