CIRCLE OF ELDERS

Circle of nine oak trees pieces created for the 2011 ECO ARTS Sculpture Walk of Lake County. This site-specific sculptural installation invites us into the mysteries of circles in nature. The Circle is an invitation to experience and imagine anew the relationship between space & time, past and present, and to inspire a sacred partnership between humans and the natural world. The circle, was created and defined as a sacred space, to reconsider and experience our deep and mysterious connection with nature. Visitors of the installation are able to walk around the perimeters and enter at any point into the center of the circle, which serves as a portal from the physical to the non-physical or spiritual world. Collaborating with nature through art and ritual is realized in this art installation as an invitation for people to enter the mystery of the circle. These encounters leave us transformed and renewed in a deep sense and experience of who we really are. The name for this installation Circle of Elders signifies reverence and an honoring of those who came before us. Ancestors who gathered in circles, as native tribes, communities and wisdom keepers who were deeply connected to nature and honored the cycles of life, death and rebirth in ritual and prayer.