Space

A theme throughout my life has been a craving for space. Early in my career and when I had children at home I could articulate this as a need for more physical space in which to live and to create my work - a bigger studio…who doesn’t want a bigger studio? But it also included a longing for personal psychological space… breathing room. After establishing alone time and building studio space for my work the craving persisted, yet has been difficult to pin down. Seeking space was and continues to be a persistent craving of my spirit yet seldom manifests in a clear cut way. I am fascinated by the space between, for example, life and death. That edge where one is not distinct from another.

In a prior blog entry I mentioned Eckhart Tolle, author of A New Earth. He says that who we are IS the space BEFORE a thought, a sensation. Our identity lies in the spaces between, like that familiar negative space that determines our designs and compositions. We are the creative outpouring that manifests in the times and spaces between our thoughts and ideas.

We can’t really put into words who we are. Once labeled it, it minimizes the breadth of our experience and expression. Is it important to define who we are in words? Is it important to define our goals? If we react to the moment without the framework of goals, plans etc. will we get into a string of layering actions that reveal our voice?

I’ve been spending a lot of time lately clearing and organizing, most recently emptying a 2 bedroom apartment rented for decades by an elderly aunt. Sorting a life’s worth of stuff…what to save, what to give, what to throw in the dumpster. It was heartening to see that most of what we threw in the dumpster was pulled out by someone walking the alley, perhaps getting reused despite its spent condition. While we made space, someone filled theirs up. Why do we have the penchant to collect so much stuff around ourselves which obligates us to take care of it, whether we use it or not?

Making art - creating - is an act of rebellion…a pause to escape into the space between knowing something and knowing nothing…a comfortable space for my spirit.

Namaste
Amy

Add comment August 27th, 2008