Atemporality

23 March 2022

Blog post

atemporal/eɪˈtɛmp(ə)r(ə)l : existing or considered without relation to time.

I am always fascinated by trees, especially the very old ones. I can just stand by it and imagine all kinds of scenes and era it had witnessed and been through. Even long after we are gone, these trees, if not destroyed by humans, remained, unaffected by time.

“When you walk through a forest that has not been tamed and interfered with by man, you will see not only abundant life all around you, but you will also encounter fallen trees and decaying trunks, rotting leaves and decomposing matter at every step. Wherever you look, you will find death as well as life. Upon closer scrutiny, however, you will discover that the decomposing tree trunk and rotting leaves not only give birth to new life, but are full of life themselves. Microorganisms are at work. Molecules are rearranging themselves. So death isn’t to be found anywhere. There is only the metamorphosis of life forms. What can you learn from this? Death is not the opposite of life. Life has no opposite. The opposite of death is birth. Life is eternal.”

Eckhart Tolle, Stillness Speaks

Oh I know, the quote may sound a bit too harsh, talking about life and death. But truly, it is not about death. It is about life, nature’s or human’s, existing without relation to time nor boundaries.

If you have been following my artwork, you will notice that this looks kind of familiar. And yes, I have done a similar subject in 2021, but in colour. They are closely related, subject and title wise. Here is the link to the other piece http://sharonsskow.com/2021/02/22/sempiternity/

I did these for a group exhibition, which was put on hold because of the pandemic. Whether it will eventually happened, I do not know. BUT one thing for sure, subject wise, it is created from an atemporal perspective.

2 comments

  • Jackie Little Miller

    March 25, 2022 at 11:04

    Your work is so beautiful and inspiring! I love seeing your process.

    1. Sharon SS Kow

      May 2, 2022 at 09:51

      Thank you so much Jackie.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.