INSPIRED BY JOURNEY
I heard about the outdoor exhibit “The Great Elephant Migration - From India With Love” showing a herd of life size elephant sculptures set up in the Meatpacking District around 14th Street, 9th Avenue and Hudson Street in NYC. I headed up to see it with my dear friend and long-term SKOLNICK A+DP financial controller, Indira. It was overwhelming and inspirational to see these “elephants” that were made from lantana camara branches, an intensely invasive weed that is quickly spreading to over 300,000 square kilometers of India’s forests, causing animals to flee their natural habitats. The elephants were created by 200 indigenous artisans, known as The Coexistence Collective. These artisans are members of the Bettakurumba, Paniya, Kattunayakan and Soliga communities who see everything in nature as being alive and having a soul.
I immediately felt a kindred spirit with these artisans, empathy for the elephants that were being displaced by the invasive lantana shrubs and impressed by the artistry, skill and soulful infusion brought to bear by these artists in crafting these sculptures.
The ability to infuse, inspire, and embue soul and content is the way of excellent art and craft and something I admire and aspire to in my work. The fact that each of these sculptures was an artistic representaiton of an actual elephant impacted by the invasive shrubs, that the artisans also represented actual families, and that this exhibit would travel the world and be a call for help by the Coexistence Collective combined to be totally remarkable making the overall experience even more touching and impactful.
Amazing inspiration from India brought to light in NYC and traveling the world and what a treat and opportunity to be able to see and experience this phenom ...