Sensual Imprint of Natural Materials | A History
Relics of the past reclaimed from old scrap piles in the South Dakota Plains’ shelterbelts. Remnants fueling imagination as a child refashioned them into toys and environments reflecting shades of his world. Frequent forays to surrounding wetlands, an abandoned gravel pit, a nearby town dump, and excursions along a pasture creek or a local river gradually expanded environmental sensuality. Maturing within nature’s environment deeply embedded a personal sense of being one with The Land.
Humanitarian service in the Congolese jungle and a factory welding job in Kansas enhanced a young man’s eventual undergraduate education. Practical application of real-life experiences and hard work became permanent modifying conditioners of academic theory in his journey.
That Congolese sojourn awakened an innate sense that vast diversity intricately joins all people as One Human Soul. That African odyssey cultivated a passion for cross-cultural experiences. The passage of time permitted observation of indigenous culture’s close relationship with The Land in five continents. Australia’s outback invoked a strong sense of spiritual oneness with The Land. Norman came to realized knowing that Humanity is Spiritually One with Earth.
“Global Community”, a contemporary concept, is as old as creation. Precarious survival of life on Earth is no longer disputed, other than from depths of denial. Norman’s work subtly energizes environmental advocacy for Our Land. Sensibility cannot doubt that All Humanity Is Indigenous with Our Earth?
Norman co-creates evocative spiritual invocations that emerge out of natural living materials of Earth. Conceptual perceptions evolve out of elemental experiences in Earthly being. These works’ intentions engage nurturing of sensual and emotional ties to Earth. Earth Spirit guides fashioning of its artifacts into remembrances. Participatory imagination with this work may inspire co-creation of new forms of continuity in shaping Earth-Beings’ Rebirthing of Our Land.
Norman Epp Pueblo West, Colorado
|
