Restorying the Landscape
“It’s not just the land that’s broken, but more importantly, our relationship to the land… we can’t meaningfully proceed with healing, with restoration, without “re-story-ation.” In other words, our relationship with the land cannot heal until we hear its stories. But who will tell them?
”
How do we hear/tell the land’s stories?
I believe that the answer is in Immersive, multi-sensory observation, embodied through drawing and painting.
I have been grappling with this concept for years through my art practice. This implies a connection with the landscape that goes beyond the surface of copying scenery. How does one express a deeper understanding that comes from an authentic dialogue with the landscape?
Local indigenous writer, Greg Sarris speaks of “reading the landscape like a sacred text (2021)”
Over three years of PATO - protracted and thoughtful observation, at this one spot, I’m still not sure if I have come any closer to hearing the land’s stories.