Left Behind

The poem and video installation Left Behind originally presented at the Lake Country Public Art Gallery in July/August 2020 as part of the Significance Stares At Me From Everywhere exhibition, bringing together Alison Beaumont, Katherine Coe, Eve Leader and Lynette Schlichting.

Significance is defined as the quality of being worth of attention; importance and the meaning to be found in words of events. Here is a short article from the Vernon Morning Star. Visit my exhibitions page for further details, below is Artist Statement, the poem Left Behind and links to the videos.

In the forest I am at home, feeling safe and surrounded by friends. Left behind examines connection to the earth, how I move through life, leaving something of me, traces of my impressions, presence and existence. Moving through this life how do we impact the earth and each living being? 

Together the elements of earth, water & air flow and move. Sitting in contemplation brings me grounding. The chilling air glides gently across my face, passing the tress I touch the bark feeling roughness and delicateness in the same moment. I compress the ground, twigs, leaves and branches crackle, crunch and collapse under my feet. I catch smells as they move by through the air, I breathe in deeply, wood, pine, flowers, leaves, tangible dampness. Waves are crashing, yet I find solace and calm, stillness and focus, I lose myself in the repetition. Clouds form and dissipate, no rigid form, appearing and disappearing no trace of what was. I observe and feel connection to these places, I am at home in solitude. As this world moves forward each moment is an opportunity to be thoughtful, supportive and present.

Interpreting all that is around us listening, language and code. The poem Left Behind is presented in English text, Morse code, binary & hexadecimal codes. Through codes we communicate, represent text, make computer processor instructions as bits or systems programming. The same words, look and feels different in each code, simplified or more complex, in plain sight or hidden. Depending on viewpoint, interpretation or understanding of the codes. The dots and dashes resonate the words of the poem, sounds echoing and speaking the poem as the video track. 

What will be left behind?

Left Behind

Moving through,

My steps compress the ground beneath,

Tread lightly, 

Make no impact,

Each movement leaves some of me behind,

My presence,

My breath,

Impressions I made,

The energy I left behind.

The poem above is presented in Morse code, binary code and hexadecimal code in the gallery.