Until That Day, Rooted I Shall Remain

size: 11 13/16 inches x 11 13/16 inches (30cm x 30cm)
medium: cut and torn paper on wood
private collection

I have commitment issues.

Not with people, mind you, but rather with places. And buildings. Particularly domiciles. Considering that I’ve lived in 3 countries (that I can recall) so far, and currently reside on, more-or-less, the exact opposite side of the globe from which I was born, you would be forgiven for having already assumed this. I like to try on new homes nearly as often as a hermit crab going through a growth spurt. But it’s actually much more complicated, because I also stick around for too long after a part of me knows it’s time to move on.

There’s a constant push-and-pull between the settler and the nomad. Just ask Shane. Our arboreal friend here, like his islandic and icelandic brethren, falls squarely on one side of that conflict. Perhaps even more than those others, he takes sustenance from his environment while awaiting that far-off call.

Until That Day, Rooted I Shall Remain is the second recent(ish) commission in the Until That Day series, and the most likely to engage in photosynthesis with strangers. With all of his complicated rooted goodness and twisting vines, he is a true merging of the more detailed pieces I’m making these days and the less-layered pieces of yesteryear.

Until That Day, I Make My Home Down Here; Until That Day, Rooted I Shall Remain; and Until That Day, My Drift is Glacial hanging out in their new home

preliminary sketchiness

Final drawing on tracing paper

detail

detail