I have entitled this piece “Earth to Spirit”. In my creative work I like to give the suggestion that the piece I have created has emerged from within nature. Even though I have taken an immense amount of time to sculpt each piece to fit into each other, the feeling I am trying to create is that human hands have merely assisted in revealing the mystery and wonder that is already in nature.
Many of the pieces used are off-cuts of burls and other gnarled pieces of trees, which have endured the forces of nature and time. When incorporated into the structural form of the piece they create in the viewer the magical feeling of wonder and child-like joy of being free, while cradled in the embrace of nature. It is this experience that I want to evoke in the viewer. I want them to contact the sense of wonder and joy that resides deep down inside us all.
There is a deeper symbolism in the piece that is suggested by the title. The piece is symbolic of the journey from earth to spirit as we open more and more to our spiritual essence. We come from earth but our true nature is spirit. The spiral staircase within the piece is symbolic of this inner journey. There comes a point in our journey where we must let go of our attachment to the material world, and in the piece this is symbolized by the hanging platform not connected to the staircase. At different points in our lives we must all take risks and make that leap of faith before we can discover within ourselves the wisdom and strength that comes from our spiritual source.
In the piece the journey is depicted as an upward one from deep within the earth, through the spiral staircase, the hanging platform, then the towering spire pointing to heaven. Although I have entitled the piece “Earth to Spirit”, I do not want to suggest that to experience spirit we must abandon the earth from which we come. By using rounded feminine forms in sculpting the spire I have tried to convey the feeling that as we open up more and more to our spiritual source, we come to realize that nature herself, in all her wonder and glory, is the embodiment of spirit, as are we all.
$20,000 Australian Dollars
Come and view the sculpture at my gallery or contact me for further information