Went for a walk a day or so ago around Paremuka Lakeside Reserve which is about 5-10 minutes walk from home. My back’s been sore so I’ve been taking breaks from essay marking and rewriting my current article and walking around the neighbourhood. Today my youngest and I walked down to the public library for preschool storytime which was a good workout as it’s uphill all the way back pushing the pushchair.
Anyway at one end of Paremuka reserve is this sculpture – Eel Man. Spent a bit of time just by the water looking at it and thinking about the artist’s intention with it. The artist, Warren Viscoe, writes,
The references are restorative, the act of restocking and replenishing that which is fragile and timeless. The eel could be described as a conduit between people and the natural world. The physical and metaphorical journey it signals traces a passage inward and outward, to the hinterland and to the remote reaches of the ocean.
Certainly I found it restorative and will be walking that way regularly. Will try and get a better photo.
Paul
Sorry to hear about your back. Hope you’re on the mend and that your making and essay are coming along. I like the last sentence: “…it signals traces a passage inward and outward, to the hinterland and to the remote reaches of the ocean…” Kind of reminds me of our Spiritual life, comprising and “inward” and and “outwar” journey – a Jesus-following journey to the “hinterland” and to the “remote reaches of the ocean”…Very New Zealand too.