"BEYOND BELIEF"
The work depicted is part of a larger on-going series of work titled, "Memories of History". They are results of a pilgrimage that extends backwards through the last four years, during which; I have searched for ancient monuments in the form of circles, standing stones, cairns, and burial tombs throughout England, Scotland, and Wales. Although the trips have resulted in a series of drawings and sculptures inspired by these sites, the journey involved in the quest is also part of the artwork. Navigation, maps, sometimes treacherous and sometimes serene walks, photographic and video documentation, fog, rain, ferry rides, bogs, and single land roads all play a part in reaching an understanding of these mysterious and elusive records of human civilization.
I am fascinated with the distant past, the passage of time, and the marks that humans leave behind. I strongly believe that the presence and sounds of all the people who have made or visited these sites throughout time remains within their sphere-intangible, untouchable, unintelligible, but always present. Echoes of past lives, past desires, nameless, but not hopeless, seekers of understanding, coconspirators in the creation of human history are all present in the sites and the art that they inspire.
The works that result are simultaneously sad and hopeful, elusive but enlightening. They speak of primordial landscapes without words. Although I do not seek these sites as scholar or druid, they represent the search for knowledge and spiritual awakening. In representation I often include ladders as symbols of this quest; they variously allude to travel, change, DNA, and they are always reaching for something that transcends time. The solid stones coupled with their fragile ladders speak of discontent and instability, of ritual and religion, of memory and thought, of hope and permanence, and ultimately, of life and death.
Terry L. H. Slade