Burning Stone
“Give me silence, water, hope
Give me struggle, iron, volcanoes”
– Pablo Neruda
Iceland’s restless crust opens, blending burning stone into frost-burnt air. This wind carries unforgiving rain with a chill that slows the heart. Armed with camera and coffee, I find myself in an intimate and pressing meditation with nature–one that urges presence.
Society today demands our restlessness as screen’s scream for attention and climate-controlled environments separate us from discomfort, physically and psychically. The world now exists outside of us, as something scary, changing, and warming; we forget the pain, ferocity, and fragility of our land in the present as it’s being quickly harvested, seen as an object for control and possession. We have forgotten our teacher. It is only when we dive into nature that we see an old lesson being chiseled onto stone and bleached bone, all with slow success.
Earth doesn’t require our intervention to exist but requests that we observe it quietly, slowly. With some coffee, take some time, sit, and watch for an opening.
This exhibit was featured at Seize the Cafe in Eugene, Oregon and raised funds for Salem for Refugees.
