Voice of Wisdom was privately commissioned. In response to my clients request for a piece that spoke to the qualities of a warm, strong and loving family; we easily agreed upon the rich and welcome inspiration of the aspen tree.
Voice of Wisdom celebrates the beautiful and wondrous analogy of the aspen tree to a strong and loving family unit enriched by its history. Individual aspen trees may live as long as 100 years; but living as clones and creating one organism within a grove, they are indeed thousands of years old. The grove’s roots are interconnected as they simply and consistently reach upward (or toward the Light). The same may well be true of our families, if we trace our roots (genealogy) and recognize our deep and ancient connectivity.
While sculpting the root system on the vessel into a delicate tapestry of intertwined life support growing only upward toward the Light, I focused on the hope that we will grow in our full awareness of our one larger, united family. At the same time, I held the intention that each of us, within our larger family, be reminded to hold the simple daily focus of reaching upward toward the Light.
Aspens grow as fast as possible without any regard to their highly visible wounds. This led me to reflect upon how we carry our supposed family ‘wounds’ – our stories - and how much attention or limitation we attribute to what we name ‘wound’. Aspen models a way of growing with and perhaps from these very wounds in deep and wondrous abundance.
Following a fire, they are the first to reappear and grow faster than most - giving attention to little other than simply growing as fast as they can. I asked myself, “am I able to survive the large and small ‘fires’ in my life/family by receiving them purely as ripe opportunities to grow and to grow as quickly as possible?”
Allowed by its unique, flat leaf/stem structure the leaves are able to flutter with the very slightest breeze. In high winds, the leaves clump together reducing air drag (which can easily break trunks) helping them survive violent storms despite their delicate structure. I effortlessly felt the rich truth in this survival tool. In catastrophes and challenges, we find ourselves best armored with friends and family; and with their hands tenderly interlocked in ours. In retrospect, we recognize the gift of oneness and unity in a way words defy. Again, I personally reflected on the times many hands, clasped together, kept dear ones and myself breathing and moving forward in the most challenging of times.
This same flexible, leaf structure gives voice to aspen’s familiar “quaking” as it enables them to bend and twist with the gentlest breeze resulting in a sweet, quaking lullaby. From our flexibility, grows sweet music – sweet music we create together.
A common clone is called "Pando" which means, I spread... What is it we might ask, that we each spread (offer) to and through our individual families? And, what is it we might subsequently spread to our larger single family?
Aspen is a marvelous, wise, rich and soulful inspiration. Her way of living and growing is a beautiful, loving blueprint of utter generosity, tenacity, cooperation, community, leadership and strength – a blueprint lived out fully in many families and my deep hope for all families. She is a beautiful model of a divinely loving family – a profound Voice of Wisdom.
The nine aspen trees on the vessel, a number symbolic of completion, suggests we are learning this integration of wisdom in our individual families, and bringing it to true fruition. When adding the numbers one through nine, the result is 45 – hence the edition size of 45.
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