ECOTHERAPY
oil on canvas
Ecotherapy
This series emerged from a reverence for both ritual and place that developed during the anxiety of the pandemic. I discovered that, more than anything else, hiking the trails behind my house every day had become essential to regaining my sense of wellbeing. As a result, I felt compelled to try and express that in my work. In preparation, I have spent the past couple of years taking reference photos of the forests of the lower Sunshine Coast while hiking. Concurrently, I have been reading about the interconnectedness of the forest ecosystem to better understand its fundamental nature. During these investigations I have come to regard our forest as a place of personal spiritual significance.
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As for the creative process itself, how could I interpret our local forest in a way that reveals its complexity, its simplicity, its interconnectedness and, most crucially, its healing powers? I knew I couldn’t do it by meticulously representing every leaf or branch or, conversely, by reducing what I saw and experienced to pure abstract design. Instead, I chose to take those branches and those visual relationships and build a bridge to a new visual language -- a language that reflects the harmony, beauty and interdependence of the forest ecosystem, but also touches on the chaos and decay. And I wanted to do it in a way that created a human response akin to the response of being in the forest. What I learned was how much the creative process parallels the healing process. You can provide optimum conditions and control some of the details, but both healing and creative discovery are a delicate balance between intention and letting go. You just have to let them happen.
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“Ecotherapy” is about the forest as therapist.
acrylic on wood panel
Rumi/Muir
The universe is not outside of you. Look inside yourself; everything that you want, you already are.
(Rumi)
When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.
(John Muir)
This group of small paintings emerged from my desire to also celebrate some of the birds and animals that live in our coastal forest. One set illustrates a quote by the Sufi mystic and poet, Rumi. The second set, using the same six animals and birds, illustrates a quote by Scottish-born American naturalist, author and environmental philosopher, John Muir.
