Act of Refinement Artwork

My ongoing body of work stems from observations of our internal and external environment, and explorations of embodiment and energy process. The result seeks to remind us of our origin as a product of the natural world, of beginnings as a single cell, and to expand our awareness of ever evolving cycles, both innate and conscious. One day while gardening, I was trimming a vine that notoriously crowds many of the other plants. Its fine, sprawling, many-branched backbone stopped me cold, and I stared with great wonder. The form and patterns matched the delicately complex bodies of the neurons I had been pouring over in many books during my studies of neuroscience and physiology. A creative impulse charged through me, and without really understanding what I was doing, I began creating something from these vines and weeds, which I now saw as neurons scattered about my yard. From there came the development of my own symbolic language of various plants and minerals as cellular structures. The structural similarity is where it all started. However, a larger metaphor emerged as I worked through the selection of materials and the process of composition. There was a story that told of life cycles: of birth and death, growth and decay; of joy and loss, injury and healing. All of these things were in process. I saw pieces of my own story reflected back. I felt the movement. I witnessed the transformation. I now feel more like a translator of the work than a creator of it. My Sound Meditation practice has woven its way into my creative process, which I feel allows me to open into a more visionary space. I invite the viewer to find their own meaningful connection through this work, and explore the relationship between our internal and external worlds.