Lee Cahill – Ode to the Sea V (CR23-048)

The paintings in this series express the visceral connection we have to the sea, not just as an untamed – and untameable – body of water but as the original source of life and as ancient wisdom-keeper. Research conducted between the mid-1990s and 2014 by Japanese scientist, Masaru Emoto, demonstrated how the molecular structure of water transforms when it is exposed to words, thoughts, sounds and intentions, supporting yogic teachings that date back four millennia. More recent research conducted by, among others, Nobel Laureate Luc Montagnier (FR) and Zach Bush (MD) (US), suggests water is the only molecule that holds memory and may be the way in which memory is retained in the body and brain. More broadly, it may be the way in which both individual and collective memory is held and transmitted. These works therefore represent the artist’s ongoing exploration of memory and of our deep connection to the natural world; to truths that cannot be described but only experienced intuitively. The series is dedicated to her late father, Dennis Cahill, who had a deep connection to the sea and who often quoted the opening lines of Sea-Fever by John Masefield: “I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by…”