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May 12
Friday
Arts and Poetry
Elemental Expression

Mary Lang

An Excerpt from the Touching the Earth Collective Mai Newsletter

Every month, we offer a space for one of the Collective’s members or friends
to share their work, art, or passion…

Artist Statement

My photographs are visual records of a sentient being, standing on the earth, expressions of grief and love for the earth; grief for the loss happening every day, and yet unabated love for this place I live on/walk on/inhabit. These are ordinary photographs of nearby places, none much further than an hour’s drive from our house.  A visit to Farandnear, a historic property in Shirley, MA, marks the beginning of this exploration. Farandnear was a summer home for several generations, named so, because at 50 miles from the family’s ancestral home in Wollaston, it was “far” enough to require a two-day journey by horse to reach, but “near” enough to be a vacation home. The name aptly describes my journey.

Cosmos and Dahlias, Auburndale, August 2021

In 2021 I took weekly outings – day trips and hikes – to Trustees and Audubon properties and reserves, initially to get out of the house during covid. Walking through wild stretches of nearby land which has been preserved gives a feeling of time travel. A swamp where beavers are not restricted could look the same today as it did 200 years ago.  At the same time, I have walked and photographed the very close and present land and landscapes outside my front door for decades – woods along the Charles River, my own backyard and garden, neglected patches of growth around town. For me there is no distinction between the beauty of the untouched landscapes or the ones we often overlook because they are ubiquitous.

1. Between the Mill and the River, Waltham, MA, 2021 2. Beaver Swamp, Farandnear, Shirley, MA, May 2021 3. The House through the Leaves, Auburndale, Early spring 2021 4. Through the Dahlias, Auburndale, August 2021

These images encompass both near and far in composition and focus. We often feel like we are looking through a screen or veil. There is a complexity in the details that both draw the viewer in and at the same time hold us back. Similarly, the climate crisis feels both far – in that we can’t fully comprehend the most horrific events yet to come, so we push them away – and unbelievably near, in that mere observation of ice on the Charles River or plants in the garden tell us what is happening before our eyes.

These photographs could be my version of a land acknowledgement, the ritual recognizing of the many generations who have cared for and inhabited this place where we live, long before we arrived. They could be a way to acknowledge the sentience of the earth, our relationship with it, its ability to communicate if we look, listen, and feel, both far and near.

To explore Mary Lang’s work, please go to her website: www.marylang.com

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To view the full Mai issue of the Touching the Earth Collective Newsletter please click here.

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