Day 14 by Jina Wallwork
Day 14 by Jina Wallwork
Day 14
I have experienced many days. As this newborn child arrives, I question how it will perceive this day. I know it will become buried deep within its memory. Forgotten, it is still an event that was experienced. On the first day we were born, we must have held a specific perception of life. Even if it was an emotional understanding of what it means to be alive. As our perception of life alters over the years, that initial understanding seems entirely lost. Life must have seemed difficult to understand. I wonder if we attempted to understand or simply trusted our instincts and felt safe.
Maybe, we forget our first day because it is unnecessary to know how we previously understood life. As I search my thoughts, I find it easier to access memories of events. I find it harder to remember old beliefs and attitudes. Sometimes we are reminded by another person, yet we can’t rediscover the perspective. It seems impossible for an adult to perceive life from the viewpoint of a baby. Life means something different to all of us. We do share a common link. We all seem to understand that life is important and valuable. I wonder if a baby feels this is true on the first day of its adventure.
27 Days
27 Days is a series of transient sculptures each representing a single day. The sculptures are made from natural materials where stones are shaped into different patterns. My behavior shapes the nature of each day, how I move the stones shapes the sculpture that represents it. These temporary sculptures are also meditations upon a day. Over many days we can see patterns emerge and slowly life changes, but within a single day this pattern is elusive. We are making decisions and responding to life’s challenges but we do not know what we are creating. To meditate upon a single day is an act of consciously observing your life as it unfolds.
Artworks were then created from the photos of those transient sculptures. Those works represent viewing each day with hindsight. There are similarities, but the memory of the day is different to the experience within the moment.
Not all of the artwork from this day is on the website. Buy the book My Visions of the Universe and view the whole series and more.
