The woods were the earliest temple. And more than that - the woods beyond immediate vision, the dense forest barely penetrable through the lattice of fog and branches – were seen as a harbor for ancestral spirits. The life-giving forest was also a home for the dead. Of all creatures of the woods – in Celtic, Germanic and even some Native American philosophy – the hart/stag is seen as a guardian of both the sacred living woods and the sacred place of the dead that lay in the shadows.
Thus at the threshold of the veil is the Crossing piece. It represents an ancestor shrine. The sculpture is a veneration of the woodland guardian with ephemeral horns and magic signs that reach into the spirit world. All the images upon the skull and the structure resonate those found at tribal burial sites. They act as the sign to those that would find it, that the piece represents a crossing point between life and death.
Crossing has appeared as stand alone piece, as well as part of the larger Gnipahellir exhibit.
Thus at the threshold of the veil is the Crossing piece. It represents an ancestor shrine. The sculpture is a veneration of the woodland guardian with ephemeral horns and magic signs that reach into the spirit world. All the images upon the skull and the structure resonate those found at tribal burial sites. They act as the sign to those that would find it, that the piece represents a crossing point between life and death.
Crossing has appeared as stand alone piece, as well as part of the larger Gnipahellir exhibit.