We educators must create a safe and fertile environment where the students can become who they are and not who others want them to be. We educators have the commitment to be courageous and truthful while guiding these children through a process of self-discovery and self-affirmation.
If you have children in your life, I strongly suggest you read a large variety of folktales, including stories from all continents. Each population uses the symbols available in their environment to evoke and embody the most primitive human impulses... the signs might look different. Still, they are all talking about the same subject. We can develop empathy and a sense of belonging to the World's Community by exposing our children to as many different cultures as possible.
The legend says that the Water Lily opens its white flowers to bathe in the Jaci's light on full moon nights, even today. Although this legend might have had a social function to the indigenous tribe, I choose not to focus on this aspect when creating an artwork. Usually, I try to connect with ideas within the legend/tale/myth that evoke universal themes. In this particular legend, I see the individual crusade to achieve a higher state of mind (moving from land to the sky).
During the exhibition at The Jung Center, I installed the triptych connected to a skull with the words "Be" and "Imagine" written on its forehead. Those are references to the works Hamlet by William Shakespeare, and Les Structures Anthropologiques de l'Imaginaire by Gilbert Durand.
