I am a spiritual, not religious person, but I do take much inspiration and sustenance from sacred poetry from around the world. The symbolism that comes through in my work has many layers of meaning. There is personal meaning, my own private language, archetypal, cultural, and even religious meaning attached to different traditions. My practice is about releasing control of content so that whoever comes to my work finds a meaning specific to them and a connection that leaves my intentions completely out of it.
The Thomas Merton poem, The Blessed Virgin Mary Compared To A Window, has been nagging at me over the past few days and I finally got it out to read it again. It is the first few lines that move me so profoundly.
"Because my will is simple as a window
And knows no pride of original birth,
It is my life to die, like glass, by light:
Slain in the strong rays of the bridegroom sun."
-Thomas Merton
Full poem here: https://allpoetry.com/The-Blessed-Virgin-Mary-Compared-To-A-Window
Does the artist strive to join their will with The Artist's Will, do we surrender our ego and "die, like glass, by light" or do we exert our personalities? And if we surrender as I try to do, how is it that the work is so tender and personal, like a message to my heart. These are some of the questions I ponder when I am not working. But really they are questions of the mind, and working is a matter of the heart.
