Garden of Transcience

In search of belonging as transient beings, healing relationships to the land and current geographies can allow for a deeper sense of connection with ecology. To honor the ancestors of the land we come from, and the land we are on now. 

 

As we turn to indigenous voices for wisdom in repairing these relationships to Gaia, Winona la Duke’s words are useful: “when you are really transient you don’t think about the return part, you just think about moving on, [and this focus on occupation and settlement] has developed [into] a major psychosis”. Transience is a millenia-old constant for all life, from natural phenomena like glacial migrations, to migratory species that find new homes as seasons change, but that history of migration has been muddied by colonization. Humans too have engaged in transient practices for centuries, but we must come to terms with these violent histories and recognize our own colonialist positions, in order to forge paths to decolonized travel. It is through establishing this deepened bond with the earth that we can move to empathize and grow wiser in our actions and impacts.

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Like reclaimed gardens, these drawings provide space to explore belonging through the juxtaposition and interpretation of multiple geographies.