11 minute read
Journeys Into Nature and Self
5 Artists On Travel as a Tool For Radical Connection
Words by Leah Abraham
For many of us, the art of journeying into nature, land and landscape has become seemingly lost to distractions: may they be physical, virtual or emotional. But what if we avert our gaze from our glowing screens, or from that impending to-do list, to allow ourselves to be fully immersed, and absorbed by our vast environment? The language of the land can be felt, heard, expressed, and documented; it is when we surrender ourselves to consciously observing nature that we find ourselves fully present in it.
I spoke to a number of artists whose practices are focused on the idea of “conscious journeying.” They have traversed wild landscapes, revisited once-familiar territories, meticulously planned a voyage or expedition. Their experiences have then been interpreted through the mediums of photography, illustration, graphic, textile, poetry and introspective writing. Nature became their storyteller, and once they found their attention captured, an emotional connection was rekindled.
Earth Magic
Madeline Cass
Foraging for mushrooms, amongst other things, has opened up new portals of knowledge and an ongoing infatuation for Madeline Cass. “As humans, we are constantly reminded of our own mortality by fleeting phenomena. Mayflies, flowers and fungi appear, disappear and reappear again. Spores, the invisible seeds of fungi, grow into dense fibrous root-systems called mycelium. These networks act as a primaeval internet, a powerful interface between multiple biological kingdoms. Symbiotically, they bridge life and death. In earth magic, I use photography to explore the cyclical relationship between growth and decay.”
A photographic series that explores the landscape, and sensually invites fascination, curiosity, and an urge to touch, earth magic asks the viewer to engage with the idea of their own relationship to mortality and nature. Made somewhere between California, Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington, but mostly Nebraska, Cass’ home state. “I am proud to be a native of the prairie, the Great Plains of the United States. I have learnt to appreciate the Midwest in ways that I wouldn’t if I was just passing through. It makes me want to commit myself to get to know landscapes very intimately, and to travel slowly and ask questions.”
“A central part of my practice is to walk in wild places (a “saunter” as Thoreau would say), which feeds me artistically and spiritually. Observation, meditation, solitude and writing all play important roles in the creation of my work. Sauntering is a way of walking in wild places that is not for scientific inquiry, exercise or any specific outcome except nourishment of the soul. It makes space for intimacy and the contemplation of nature.” Embracing this subtle yet mystic beauty, evokes a new consciousness for Cass, a spiritual awakening, “there is a kind of ego death - to be immersed into a place so unknown, so much bigger than oneself, and to be keenly aware and present.”
Cass’ series alters our perception of traditional landscape and green nature, it directs our gaze into new complex interconnected lifeforms, which may offer new solutions to our climate change quandaries. “It is easy to think of the environment as being somewhere far away, with mountains and waterfalls, yet access to spaces deemed to be “wilderness” often comes with privilege. I want people to reclaim and engage with their environments in their modes. New pathways can be formed to create access in radical ways. In order for us to protect our environments, we need an emotional connection and a sense of agency with regards to the place we want to protect. I hope my work to inspire this kind of connection and action.”
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Maria Montiel
Maria Montiel is the Buenos Aires graphic artist and textile designer, whose work is a direct response to natural formations of plants, leaves, animals and botany. Travelling through the familiar landscapes of her hometown and by collecting relics, tracing natural elements and making etchings, Montiel has developed a distinctive style that feels remarkably curious, like the drawings of her inner child. “I love to mix my observations of nature with symbolism, shapes, colour, details, movement and transformation.”
“I practice yoga, which keeps me present, and I like to draw. I am very observant of textures, light, shadows and especially the small details. My surroundings become my perception and I enjoy that. Nature inspires me to be subtle and observant. To this observation, I always try to add something magical or imaginary, either from the conceptual or from the symbolic. Having a process is fundamental to me. Many times I’ve had mental images, thoughts, dreams or things that I see and my first thought always is: ‘this is very tractable!’ When I can, I draw it and if not, I have my notebook of annotations. I collect my thoughts/dreams/phrases/images, which then serve as resources for when my mind is blank; it is my notebook. When I manage to have a good time, I’m connected with the drawing, it is a very nice feeling. It becomes about being truly present in the moment.”
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Songlines of the Here+Now
Tanya Houghton
Great Gaia, or Mother Earth, (whichever your heart desires to call her) has in numerous stories that can be reaped from her soil. London based artist Tanya Houghton’s Songlines of the Here+Now is a testament to this. Richly coloured, mythical landscapes interspersed lead us to subtle trails of modern, urbanised human presence. Its visual narrative of the Urban (Man) becoming part of the Rural (Nature). “I like to immerse myself in the landscape. By doing so I gather and learn the stories that we as humans imprint onto the landscape, and in return, I capture the stories those landscapes tell about us” explains Houghton. By going for an extended walkabout in the Australian landscape, Houghton traced out the memories preserved in, and on the land.
"I camped in the national parks and rented the cheapest car I could, spending all my money on petrol. I drove the whole trip covering 10,500 kilometres in five weeks. I wanted to experience how the landscape changed by moving through it, not flying over it.” Questing alone, allows Houghton to focus on sensory.
“I researched heavily before I headed out on the trip, looking for sites of significance or natural beauty. I wanted to get as close to nature as possible. The light, smells, and sounds play a huge roll in how you perceive a space. I keep a journal when I work - it's a collection of sites and places names, maps and ticket stubs, lists of things I’ve seen or things I want to shoot. I also keep notes of distances covered, towns I stop in and conversations I’ve had along the way. This is crucial.”
The absence of physical interaction, or of any individuals encountered along the way gives the landscape full dominion. Ultimately, it's Houghton’s surroundings that deliver the song: “It’s interesting to note which sites and smells I remember vividly, and the specificity of dialogues that always ebb from my memory as though the landscape is stealing them back.” Houghton's series pays homage to an indigenous tradition, but reinterprets it through visual mappings: “For me as an artist, it is essential that the work I create starts a dialogue, showing people the beauty of the planet in a hope that something will awaken in them, an urgency to preserve it.”
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Stanislas Motz
As with most things, individual travel experiences can and do deviate, and some are more psychologically stirring than others. The Untitled zine by French artist, and photographer Stanislas Motz, is an emotive collection of collages, photography and poetic intonations which reflect a journeying through psychological turmoil. “This particular work was produced during my last trip to Indonesia, between Bali, Nusa Penida and Java. I noticed a deep sadness and melancholia within this nature, burned by the sun and attacked by the salted air of the unending sea”.
His photo-journal evokes a deep sense of brooding that Motz had been carrying with him. Through his travels he forms a mimetic relationship with the landscape around him: “Before leaving for my solo trip to Indonesia, I was very insecure about myself, and had a preconceived idea that the path my life would follow would be by imitating others. I somehow needed to unlearn this, and try to create my own destiny.” Images captured on the island of Nusa Penida, are imbued with Motz’s poetic ruminations, both handwritten and digitally. “Nature is music: the singing of the birds, the wind on the trees, I feel like I understand these melodies and can capture them in the photographs I take”. With this series, Motz had intended to produce a meditation on loneliness, but his travel experience became rooted to a spiritual awakening: “I had this talk with a local that really inspired me. The Balinese believe that trees are a crucial component of the web of life, they cherish every bit that nature has offered them and give a lot back to it. Maybe it’s a life conception that I never quite understood till then, but that is really helping me today, in understanding who I am and why I am here now.”
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It Devours
Chiara Zonca
As subjects to make you, “think, feel and dream”, Canadian photographer Chiara Zonca’s It Devours series of sweeping trees, and lush vegetation not only transports but also serves to remind us of our relationship to flora and fauna of the remarkable ecosystem.
“I travelled to New Zealand with this idea in mind, and to document the geologically active areas of the North Island and Whakaari, an andesite stratovolcano located 30 miles off the main coast. There, the contrast between lush vegetation and the ever-evolving and rumbling earth below felt almost enticing, as if I was the first person exploring a long-lost world I had no knowledge of. What captured my attention was the tropical vegetation which seemed to invade and absorb the open landscape. I enjoyed documenting the contrast between a harsh and typically barren environment and these surrounding lush tropical plants. They seemed to come alive at night especially when the dusky shades of evening sky would blur into their branches. I felt it was an unusual way to document such an overphotographed country.”
Zonca captures the natural topography, but alters and enhances, colour-hue and composition so that they appear vast and otherworldly. “It is the furthest I had ever been from home. As soon as I landed, I felt a deep sense of unfamiliarity, of excitement and discovery of a long lost world. That is the feeling I tried to portray here, documenting the island’s volcanic presence and interaction with nature. A gentle and a dangerous side coexisting.” As visual mappings, Zonca’s images transcend both time and space, giving way to a sense of hazy and dreaminess. “I don’t pick my locations because they are stunningly beautiful, or because of sweeping views and vista points, I do so because I know that when I am there I can feel free.”
As an artist concerned with the preservation, or safeguarding of these environments, how might Zonca communicate her concerns for the conservation? “I feel that by documenting the feelings and motives behind my work, rather than just promoting a location for tourism, I could help inspire others to enjoy and truly connect with nature and not only see it as a travel destination or a perfect selfie backdrop Ultimately I am hoping this collection will inspire a true sense of mystery and renewed respect for nature and our surroundings - which we tend to forget all too often and should instead be re-discovered.”
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