Colleen Pearce
MFA ’15 Fine Arts Low-Residency
My art has always been a time for me to get outside of myself and disappear into something larger. Nature has always been my conduit. Lately, I have begun looking back to the ancient and elemental rocks. They are shaped by powerful forces; sun, wind, waves and earth’s upheavals, yet they endure. I have been captivated by that which has persevered millennia. My fears about the world we are leaving to our grandchildren, the loss of womens’ rights and the threats to democracy, have sent me to the wisdom of the rocky shore. There are lessons in their ability to abide great upheaval. I find solace in the grace and dignity of these primal places. As I clamor amongst the rocks, I quite literally find myself rising up and connecting with the tenacity to carry on the fight.
I am inspired by Mary Oliver’s poem, I go Down to the Shore.
I go down to the shore in the morning
and depending on the hour the waves
are rolling in or moving out,
and I say, oh, I am miserable,
what shall–
what shall I do? And the sea says
in it’s lovely voice:
Excuse me, I have work to do.
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