I’m coming down the finish line with this painting, which I’m thinking of calling “Umbilicus”…and I feel the symbology is particularly appropriate to Earth Day!
This is a digital painting, using a special tablet and pen. It’s a very mobile type of “canvas” which I have been working on while studio renovations are still underway.
Like most of my work, it illustrates parallel themes of Native American cultural reawakening and human kinship with the natural environment.
So let me ask you this, do you think “Umbilicus” is a fitting title?
OUR LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM
The painting shows a grove of Indian burial mounds (earthworks), each supporting a maple tree shaped like a woman’s body. These tree figures are tethered by vines to the wisdom and earth knowledge of the past, a philosophical supply line from which they derive sustenance.
But there is another layer to this nurturing connection, this close relationship. For each mound shown, there is a traditional Iroquois elm bark basket placed for collection of one of Mother Earth’s most delicious elixirs, maple syrup. Maple sugaring season normally runs from February into April, bringing us to EARTH DAY!
…and I’m claiming EARTH DAY as a chance to remind ourselves not to get cut off from our source by taking for granted the “things which support life.”
Please read the quote below, so eloquently expressed by Iroquois Clan Mother Audrey Shenandoah, who was invited to speak at the opening of The Global Forum on Environment and Development for Survival held in Moscow, USSR in 1990.
“There is no word for ‘nature’ in my language. Nature, in English, seems to refer to that which is separate from human beings. It is a distinction we don’t recognize. The closest words to the idea of ‘nature’ translate to refer to things which support life. It is foolish arrogance for humans to think themselves superior to all the life-support system. How can one be superior to that upon which one depends for life?
…AND NOW FOR A COUPLE OF PROCESS PICTURES:
So, what do you think I should call this painting?
If you have any thoughts to share please use any of the contact links below. You can visit me on the web, follow me on social media or e-mail me!
Much Appreciated,
Alyssa
