Barbara Schaefer Art

From Sand to Silence; more about portals

The following was also part of the proposal for an exhibition about portals, for myself and an artist/ friend (an Arab and a Jew). We have both been working with the idea of portals/windows/openings for a number of years, however, we came to this exploration separately. Once we recognized the similarities we decided to offer it as possibility; as another perspective towards identifying what is shared, universal and infinite among all cultures. An opening that may allow us to look through and beyond what we see now, and even step over to open ourselves to a consciousness that embraces all beings

There are those precious encounters in life that leave you with a sense of harmonic resonance, as though a mirror was reflecting back to you, not only a familiar image, but a musicality of tones that awakens memory, both personal and beyond self. Rooted in culture, but unconditioned by its boundaries, we meet in a vast landscape, perhaps out in the desert, where the wind shifts sand through time, echoing a song of light and eternity. In a moment of silence, all is revealed; bold and graceful Arabic-like calligraphy seems to form from the movement of the sand, the drone of a Middle Eastern lament emerges from the depths of the earth, following the changing lines, scripted and dissolving in the sand, where understanding goes beyond language and form moves within itself to become formless.