Collaboration
Different cultures have different creation stories. In many of these narratives, creation occurs when some external Force or Being brings order from the chaos. This being is the Master Artist who puts together a system of order and beauty for living beings to thrive in.
We are alive within a work of art.
All around us I see an invitation to collaborate. When I’m alone in nature I like to gather bits and pieces I find and arrange them in a way that gently marks the moment: “my heart was here”. It’s my art with nature’s art. It’s the kind of meditation that makes me reflect on the daily collaborations that take place in a broader context between the earth and human beings.
We collaborate every time we turn a tree into a table, grow a crop of food, arrange some flowers, plant a garden, tame a horse. We also collaborate when we mix the cement to build a home, mine the elements we use in our technology, harvest solar energy. We take the raw materials given to us and create something of our own, which continues to exist within a greater work of art.
When two artists collaborate, they each bring their own unique contribution, and when it is done with sensitivity and thoughtful respect, the outcome is more than the sum of its parts. This can only be achieved through relationship - a relationship with each other and with the earth we live in.
A belief that everything exists randomly and is there for the taking is a downward spiral. If everyone approached the world with the mindset of a collaborator, we would no longer strip it of its resources, pollute our environment and destroy one another in the process. We would live humbly and gently. We would make sure our lives brought more beauty than they consumed.
If this resonates with your heart and you have not yet read Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, I would highly recommend it. In her book she explores more deeply the relationship between humans and the land, balancing indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge and the teachings of plants. I found it hugely inspiring, and though we have different creation stories, I found a lot in common with my own beliefs.
My linocut “Collaboration” was my own moment with some humble meadow grass, trying to put into words the way I felt about being human on this earth. We can bend the blades of grass without breaking them.
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