There is an over-abundance of words written expressing human history and current presence on Earth, hence I prioritize co-creating a physical-visual-image repertoire and opus of our human-nature being, presence and relationships at this critical time in our existence on Earth. It’s time to transition from the Barbaric Heart-driven Anthropocene to the healthy, regenerative Symbiocene. I don’t prioritize careerism as an Artist, as this feels like a dead-end I’ve passed through. It’s truly time for a major paradigm shift from the career-driven “Art World” to an integral, multicultural, multi-species living creative practice world of mutual coexistence. Let’s face reality via true perception and acknowledge phenomenology.
Through my art practice and resulting images, there is a deep and broad reverence and celebration expressed of the mass-multitude of interconnections on the micro-to-macro scales. This is an intuitive, cognitive open polycentric process that fully acknowledges and expresses there is much in reality that we cannot see, i.e., particles and waves, re: morphic resonance, that influence, affect life and are integral to our healthy existence. To coherently comprehend and co-exist in harmony with this truth we need to re-join, co-join the biological and creative truths of enlivenment, enchantment and regenerative living.
Planetary & Biosphere Sentience
Acrylic Collage on Panel
20″ x 20″
2023
© 2023 Gordon Wood
Enlivenment
“We have been told that we are living in the Anthropocene, a geological era shaped by humans rather than by nature. In Enlivenment, German philosopher Andreas Weber presents an alternative understanding of our relationship with nature, arguing not that humans control nature but that humans and nature exist in a commons of mutual transformation. There is no nature–human dualism, he contends, because the fundamental dimension of existence is shared in what he calls “aliveness.” All subjectivity is intersubjectivity. Self is self-through-other. Seeing all beings in a common household of matter, desire, and imagination, an economy of metabolic and economic transformation, is “enlivenment.” This perspective allows us to move beyond Enlightenment-style thinking that strips material reality of any subjectivity.”
“To take this step, Weber argues, we need to supplant the concept of techné with the concept of poiesis as the element that brings forth reality. In a world not divided into things and ideas, culture and nature, reality arises from the creation of relationships and continuous fertile transformations; any thinking in terms of relationships comes about as a poetics. The self is always a function of the whole; the whole is equally a function of the individual. Only this integrated freedom allows humanity to reconcile with the natural world.”
— Andreas Weber, “Enlivenment”
Glacier Peak & Image Lake, N. Cascades, WA 9/21/2018
Dakobed (known in the Sauk-Suiattle dialect of the Lushootseed language “Takobia”)
© 2023 Gordon Wood
Enchantment
“An unapologetic affirmation of the meaningful richness and depth of existence, registering the dynamic wholeness of being (inclusive of negativity and absence), fostering health and vitality in evincing a non-reductive integrative inclusiveness.”
~ Michael Schwartz, “In The Spirit of Wholeness: Integral Art and its Enchantment Aesthetic”
Barbaric Heart
“In fact the Barbaric Heart is civilized, for all the good that does it, and has always happily clad itself in the decorous togas of Rome (as the Ostrogoth King Theodoric did), the pinstripes of Wall Street, and the comfy suburbanity of L. L. Bean.”
“This is the barbaric calculation: if you can prosper from violence, then you should go ahead and be violent. In short order the Barbaric Heart is lead to conclude that in face prosperity is dependent on violence. Therefore, you should be good at violence, for your own sake and the sake of your country.”
~ Curtis White
I live in the diverse, great bioregion of Cascadia, and we need to focus more on stories and relationships within the bioregions we live more deeply and authentically. As David Korten states, “change the stories, change the future: a living economy for a living Earth”!
Cascadia
“The truth is that Cascadia is not named after a static entity like a mountain range, but rather for what the whole of the maritime mountainous region does—it cascades! So, Cascadia is named after this signature region-wide dynamism!
Cascadia has shown itself to be an evocative name, conjuring up visions of a beautiful green land. The lure of this name responds to a genuine thirst for a home here, for a name and way of life authentically grounded in the life of the place itself.”
~ Dr. David McCloskey
Map of Cascadia by David McCloskey, Cascadia Institute
“We need to recognize that the planet and the people on it are ultimately one and the same.”
~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Beauty
Beauty equals, retains, and emphasizes truth, and connection to subtlety and the sublime through its presence. Beauty expands the relationship of the soul to spirit and beyond through increased awareness, openness, and perception. Beauty embodies the very drive, creative and evolutionary of the Kosmos toward greater depth and expanding consciousness in the witness, beholder and through empathic capacities. Beauty embraces us in the timeless now by suspending the other chatter in our brains, creating space to be present in the moment. The freedom of non-duality sustains beauty and truth. Beauty nurtures growth, inspires, and confirms all the potential in the Kosmos. Beauty has meaning. Decay – entropy is inevitable, unavoidable, and regenerative. One can’t have beauty without decay; they go hand in hand, the Yin and the Yang, the Wabi Sabi. My vision and objective are to be a warrior for sustainable beauty, transcendence, transmutation, and transformation via translation of all that this wondrous Kosmos provides through my actions and art.
Anima Mundi Flourishes With Love & Nurturing
Acrylic Collage w/Variegated
Metal Leaf on Panel
12″ x 12″ 2023
© 2023 Gordon Wood
I, We all live within this amazing and wonderful planet Earth as a network, web of interconnected, integral flora and fauna. As Artists, Scientists, and humans, we all are catalysts for healthy symbiosis integral to a healthy home in the biome. To focus on all this at this time in my life I’m re-initiating a series of events focused on expanding the engagement of all the diverse communities within the bioregion that are significant in the re-emergence of a regenerative Cascadian future for all species here in our beautiful home. This is in addition to continuing and expanding my creative mentoring service via Evo Gen Jou. For additional information, please visit Gordon Wood Art.
Stardust’s Enactive Emergence
Acrylic Collage on Panel
16″ x 16″ 2022
© 2023 Gordon Wood
Working in and on these, as well as creating in the studio and being out in nature are what makes and keeps me happy, as well as spending time with my twenty (20), year old son, friends, and meeting new interesting humans of all ages.
Cascadia Enlivenment & Enchantment 2024-25
Vision – Mission
Where are we? What is the “Sense of Place, Place of Sense” as a true Commons and as Commoners? How did we get here, and where do we want to Be?! Within expanding dialogues, collaborations and experiences of connectivity and relationship we will explore and achieve cohesive, comprehensive clarity on what Cascadia and Bioregionalism is and can achieve.
As opposed to culture being dominated and controlled by the market economy, a culture of reciprocity and reconciliation with nature unfolds, nullifying anthropocentric hubris so the biosphere retains its health and balance for all species, humanity and our home, the Commons of Earth. What can evolve is a greater love of life and connection to our “Great Green Land” and much more, a renewed concept, consciousness of true wealth, health and happiness.
Mt. Challenger & the Picket Range, N. Cascades, WA 9/22/2023
© 2023 Gordon Wood
Gordon Wood is an artist, designer, and father, residing and working in Cascadia. He has over 37 years of experience fusing art with business management. His diverse expertise spans Fine Arts, Textiles, Graphics, Furniture and Surface Design, and community events. As Executive and Creative Director of EvoTex and Vice President of 47 Productions Inc., Gordon has successfully led numerous projects, showcasing creativity, team collaboration, and attention to detail.
Gordon’s artistic journey began in childhood and evolved into a B.A. in Art History from the University of Washington, studies at the Pilchuck School of Glass and Mt. Royal School Graduate School of Art at the Maryland Institute College of Art. With over 600 paintings exhibited nationally and internationally, his works have reached audiences across the U.S. and globally. His impact extends to textile design, with 60+ jacquard designs featured in Elle Décor Magazine and woven at prestigious Italian mills.
In addition to his visual arts contributions, Gordon has illustrated books, fiction, and poetry and contributed to journals and magazines. His commitment to merging progressive aesthetics with business solutions defines his influence in the creative realm.
To access and enjoy Gordon’s work past and present, please visit:
Gordon Wood Art
and What’s Next for Earth.
This article is a contribution to the “The Arts and the Anthropocene” series by the MAHB Arts Community. If you’re an artist passionate about sharing your insights and artwork on this subject, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Michele Guieu, Eco-Artist and MAHB Art Director, at michele@mahbonline.org. Your contributions are greatly appreciated.
Thank you. ~