how great thou eARTh

last night, i went out for a run near hyde park and in the midst of london’s perpetual (and at times overwhelming) movement, i found myself observing the beautiful cumulus clouds hovering above my head — their purple shadows melting into the sky with their luminous tops and fluffy sides. it felt like there was a parallel community breathing right there on top of my head, chatting, laughing, contemplating… without necessarily wanting to anthropomorphise the clouds, i really did feel like these natural entities shared a similar nature to us; something strangely enticing, something of a bizarrely indescribable spirit. i then thought about the importance of nature in my practice and the immense inspiration it gives me in my personal artistic expression. this is perhaps because i truly feel like art and nature both come from the same source of energy: that of the spirit. the spirit which manifests itself through the mere activity of observation, for instance — where the artist allows himself to deeply experience nature, where this depth is experienced again in the studio during the act of artistic creation…

the processes of observation and creation in the artistic realm and nature seem to hold this underlying (and often subconscious) sentiment of a desire for beauty and the divine. as i strongly perceive creativity as the overarching force under which many different means of expression emerge from (art, music, poetry…), i would like to hint at some of the main ideas we can take away from the romantic poets in the 1700s (namely william wordsworth) on this subject and the important role nature plays in their artistic practices.

wordsworth, an 18th-century english romantic poet in his work speaks of his direct experience of nature in the lake district. he and samuel taylor-coleridge both discuss the importance of the immersion of man in nature: truly living nature, breathing nature, connecting with nature in order to justly express one’s self artistically. wordsworth considers man’s engagement with nature being like an engagement with a spiritual force: where feelings of mainly awe and fear dominate. where one, for a second, may find himself in complete wonder and amazement in front of a beautiful waterfall, a dazzling wave, a graceful river and in the next, find himself swept away by its fierce energy, its uncontrollable power, its crushing dominance over man. true appreciation of our natural world educates us on vital, core human values such as humility, growth, patience… all of which are mirrored in an artistic practice, i believe.

this is why i chose to write a few personal lines about this subject - art, the environment, spirituality… these three forces are completely interlinked and interdependent to me. the spirit, the creator, the divine force, however you’d like to call it, manifests itself in the process of creation, which is both inherent to a creative artistic process and the natural world.

just as wordsworth fought against the creation of the lake district’s railway line, just as rachel carson published ‘silent spring’ in the 60s, just as chico mendez fought for the ceasing of logging in the beautiful amazon rainforest, just as aboriginal communities sacrifice their lives daily to defend the forests that supply our lungs with oxygen… just as the romantics launched our modern appreciation for beauty and stimulated in us this innate desire to protect it, i believe that standing on the side of nature, in whichever artistic form in may take, more than anything, is my true duty as an artist. i dream of a world where we will hold these ecological values high up on our list of morals, where care and respect for this environment hosting our transitory passage on earth trumps gdp, industry and sole economic growth, where understanding and appreciation for one another and a peaceful communication with nature dominates… in sum, where, as dylan thomas states, we collectively retrieve our basic human impulse to ‘rage, rage against the dying of the light’ and join forces to retrieve balance within our home’s ecosystem...

‘mining for steal’ — fuchsia

they’re mining for gold but all i see is steal

could it be, part of the deal?

cause she's sweet as sugar but wait until it rains

she can turn very bitter, aflame

spitting words in the atmosphere

they breathe in monochrome

white collard criminals

will reap just what they sow

and when the fields are barren,

where do we go?

where do we go?

where do we go from here?

they're mining for gold, but all i see is steal

so cleverly concealed

cause all that glitters, isn't always gold

where's the credit in what, they sold?

gliding, the silver line

in rivers far away

it streams, in the youth, as they line up

by the gates

and now, our fields are barren,

where do we go?

where do we go?

listen to ‘mining for steal’: https://open.spotify.com/track/5rrOA1mxM2fcHyYMH8soBe?si=78d932a2d6c84a1d