ARTIST STATEMENT:

 

“... a separation from the world,
a penetration to some source of power
and a life-enhancing return ...”
              Van Gennep: Rites de Passage 

 

“To understand one’s world, one must sometimes turn away from it.” (Albert Camus) One must examine the secrecy and mystery of life, from a place where one can pause and observe.
 

A breathing space is an area of nothingness in between everything that exists, the space in which the mind takes stock, a certain breathing room for the spirit.  It is a nothingness where there is a rest from all the noise and busyness, but it is alive with a vibrating energy that gives strength to the beings around it.  
 

In a garden the breathing space is the vacant area in between the groups of plants and flowers; the space allows us to appreciate and even better discern the plants.  It also improves the strength of the vegetation all around it.

The breathing space is the breath that unites all beings. In creation, a breath gave us life and continues now to flow through all life.  
 

A breathing space is elbow room, it’s the space between houses that don’t quite touch, it’s room to run, it’s the space where the river rushes between large rocks, going faster there because the rocks squeeze it in.  It’s the flow of air between creatures, the flow of the trees as they grow tall into the sky is a life-giving connection. It’s the space before we die when we reflect on life. Mostly a breathing space is where the spirit floats free like the body is several feet off the ground.  
 

Art itself offers a breathing space; room for the spirit to flow like a river, where ideas can breed.

In the breathing space, all we need do is reach out and touch all of Nature.

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