We featured Australian artist Graham Wilson a while back, but we were only barely dipping into his full body of work.He maintains a website that illustrates not only his woodcarvings, but also other works including stone sculptures, paper drawings, a Green Man play, and a few short video pieces ranging from whimsical to poignant.
Below are the opening lines to his play, Green Man, which he wrote for the 1996 Adelaide Fringe Festival.
(The Adelaide Fringe Festival is the second largest Arts Festival in the world, with this year’s event attracting over 1 million people).
The YouTube video clip is a short film Graham produced that we liked very much. To us, the film (titled, "Sea Door") speaks on many levels about our inherent connection with nature; the discovery of the wondrous feeling created when the natural elements of the world surround us.
The combined symbolism of the key, the locked door, the innocent girl and nature, captures, we think, a part of that “collective unconscious” Carl Jung spoke about many years ago. But see for yourself.
When we contacted Graham about doing another short article about his work, we mentioned the day it would run and that we couldn't remember if Australia was one day ahead or behind us here in San Diego. We added that he should check his sundial or hourglass or whatever Aussies use for timepieces down there. His reply:
"G'day. Yes we are a day ahead of you. We live in your future and you live in our past... Try getting your head around that..."
Opening lines to the play, Green Man, by Graham Wilson:
Every culture has a tale about a spirit that lives in the forest
or within the trees.
In ancient Europe this spirit represented the new life of spring...
the voice of the primordial forest....
a dark dense wood that stretched, unbroken,
from the shores of Gaul to the grass plains of Mongolia.
A forest so vast it was believed to have gone on without end.
A forest older than humanity.
To the native North American their grand woods, too,
were filled with spirits.
The Green man but one of many.
He was, however, seen as an agent of bad luck....
a creature bound to make you doubt your own will.
In the East he was a giant ape... a 'wild man'...
to be both feared and respected.
In early Christian Europe he was seen as the devil's agent...
for their god ruled the heavens whilst the devil ruled the earth.
Whilst here in Australia he was the voice of the ancestors...
the song of the trees...a song as old as the dreaming.
Whatever the belief one thing is constant...
the Green Man has dwelt in the wild
since the dawn of the forest.
He lives on in our cities,
his face hidden amongst the leafy decoration of Gothic facades...
Known by many names he is seen with many faces...
for today he looks like this [actor holds up mask]...
and today he meets humanity.
Paul Sivell is a wood carver in England who recently finished a project known as the tallest carving in the world. At over 60 feet, the carving was done for the Isle of Wight's Gardens in Bloom celebration.
