A Sacred Grove

Artist Statement

 

We take trees for granted. Trees are the cornerstones of the delicate ecological system in which we live as they provide us with the oxygen we breathe. Trees give us life. Trees offer of shade us in the summer months when we are hot. They sacrifice their livelihood for the benefit of our written words. So it is no wonder that trees have been worshipped, revered, idealized and symbolized for as long as humans have had the ability to do so.

 

Within Buddhism, specifically Tibetan Buddhism, the tree serves as a symbolic reference and an anchor for the understanding of the foundations of Buddhist meditation and practice. In Sanskrit the word chaitya can be loosely translated to mean any sacred natural place such as a tree or a rock or spring. The word chaitya can be then translated to the Tibetan word stupa which itself can in turn be translated to mean “sacred grove” or “sacred mound”.

 

Hence, the title for this collection is “A Sacred Grove”.  A brief collection inspired by the sacred mystery of trees. It is my hope that the viewer will leave behind their banal view on the nature of trees; perhaps, reconsider his or her interaction with them all together. In the grand scheme, I wish for the viewer to gain a sense of their own interdependent connections to the land and sacred spaces vis-à-vis trees.