Sunday 8 April 2018

"ARTISTIC WORK IS SPIRITUAL: A PERSONAL MEDITATION..."

“Artistic work is spiritual; a personal meditation that provides food for the soul of others. Creative work connects us to what is fundamental, enduring, and eternal.”

Carol Eikleberry
author of ‘The Career Guide 

for Creative and Unconventional People’

"I don't think that art comes from art. A lot of artists apparently think so. I think it comes from the awakening person. Awakening is what you might call the spiritual. It is a linkage to something flowing very rapidly through the air, and I can put my finger on it and plug in, so to speak. Do artists need a spiritual way or do they need art? You can say one is the same as the other. Everything tends toward awakening, and I would rather use the word awakening than a word derived from some system - because there are many systems."

quote from Adamu Noguchi


From the HORIZONS portfolio
©Michael G. O'Brien


HORIZONS 

These images of Lake Ontario grew out of the ongoing work that I have done for an Indigenous organization here in Canada. During the time I have spent with this group, I have been fortunate to hear teachings that resonated with me while simultaneously revealing to me a worldview quite different from my own. This worldview was one centered on the primacy of relationships and connections.

The teachings have given me a roadmap that has helped me find a way back to, a return to, the ancient memories of what it meant for me to be a human in relationship with a creation more vast then anything that I could imagine.

In light of this new perspective, making this series of photographs became a process of return - of returning repeatedly to the same place by the Lake so that I could experience deeper levels of meaning, of relationship, of observing the light, water, clouds and the earth that make up the visual and spiritual aspects of the environment.

The Lake took on a new meaning to me, as I now wanted to explore the spiritual essence of the place rather than construct an abstract 'narrative'. It became important for me to work in one place close to home and to sink roots as deeply as possible while immersing my heart and soul into the process. I became-fully engaged. My commitment to showing the subtle and sometimes dramatic changes of the lake organically became a reflection and symbol of my shifting worldview. I want to share with viewers the sensations of seeing nature without, concepts or filters; letting her speak and providing an opportunity for us to connect directly with what is. The series is ongoing.

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