To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour
William Blake
Humans and the coastal seas are closely connected. As you know, Stilbaai Galery is situated in a quiet seaside town.
The tide, time and weather are central to our daily activities like a compass.
Perceptions of the marine environment often refer to reflections and speculations based on limited observations and knowledge. For most of human history, the sea was regarded as unknown and infinite, challenging explorers and imposing no limits on human activities.
Let us take a closer look at the ecology of coastal systems, intertidal zones, beaches, dunes, estuaries and salt marshes, islands, kelp forests and reefs and how humankind interacts with them.
As artists we often live in closer harmony with nature than most. So, who better to portray this relationship.
“To see a world in a grain of sand,” as stated by Blake, opens a relationship between things. Relationships between essential components and the whole are studied in many scientific disciplines, including the marine sciences.
The ocean, tides and water offer us an overload of textures and patterns to explore. The depth of metaphor and analogy are all very exciting possibilities.
“You don’t know the nature of this sea you love: below
Its surface lingers sharks; tempests appear,
Then sudden calms – its course is never clear,
But turbid, varying, in constant stress;
Its water’s taste is salty bitterness”.
Farid Attar
Time and tide wait for no man.
Geoffrey Chaucer
