It’s All Here
“The
worker must have bread, but she must have roses too.” This
century-old labor slogan bears repeating today. Beauty, pleasure,
celebration—the “roses” of life—are not extras; they’re
just as essential as food and shelter to our well-being.
To
start meeting everyone’s needs for both bread and roses, it’s
important to insist that governments and businesses make the
appropriate changes. But it’s also crucial to embrace, create and
share the bread-and-roses paradigm in our individual lives, here and
now. Even in a world in which resources can seem scarce, commitment,
openness and ingenuity can reveal some amazing roses.
Local
artist Andres San Millan is a great example. Awhile back he decided
it was time to expand beyond his previous artistic parameters and do
what he’d always wanted to do: create a really large sculpture. He
knew that moving forward with his dream was a vital part of his
life’s work—but he didn’t have the financial resources to
purchase materials for such a large piece.
The
way San Millan responded to that seeming obstacle can inspire all of
us who seek more of the roses in life. He used Hudson River driftwood
to create a work infused with such grace, meaning and power that it’s
clear this artist and this medium were destined to work together.
The
13-foot sculpture, Man,
on exhibit in front of Taste Budd’s Cafe in Red Hook, is a dynamic
archetypal figure that carries the same energy as the driftwood of
which it’s made. San Millan, who has a deep affinity for Native
American culture, says, “I wanted Man
to reflect those cultures, the way they flow without resisting the
rhythms of nature. That’s the same reason the earth goes around the
sun: nothing impedes it, so it just keeps going with the flow.
Driftwood does that too.”
And
that same energy powered San Millan’s creative process. Instead of
resisting the circumstances with which we’re faced, he says, we can
know that “we have everything we need. It’s all here.” When I
stand looking at Man,
I know in my bones that’s true.
My
family and I attended the installation of Man,
looking for something interesting to do on a frigid January day. What
we experienced went way beyond interesting. The power and
beauty of the piece fed our souls deeply, reminding us that art is as
vital as bread.
Our culture tends
to pressure us to starve the right sides of our brains. San
Millan says, “The right side of the brain is spiritual, empathic,
creative, wild, spontaneous. It’s alive and it has needs. We
absolutely need to nourish it because it’s part of us.”
To
spend time with Man,
on exhibit through December, visit Taste Budd’s Cafe, 40 West
Market Street, Red Hook. For more on Andres San Millan (who also
cofounded the Cocoon Theatre in Rhinebeck with his wife,
Marguerite), visit figureartscape.com or email
andres@figureartscape.com.
Sherill
Hatch blogs at fulljoy.us, offers life coaching, and facilitates the
support group Stone Soup: Living Sustainably on a Shoestring.
Posted by lil' Liza
on 9:52 AM.
Filed under
Bread & Roses
.
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