I AM WITNESS TO YOUR TRANSFORMATION
I am Witness to Your Transformation merges the ideas of traditional spirituality with modern science and nature. In the practice of religious pilgrimage, a pilgrim will journey long distances, often on foot, to visit sites of great spiritual significance. These sites contain relics – sacred physical fragments of saints, deity, or holy ground. A relic is believed to literally contain the essence, power and energy of the holy person or significant event that it is associated with. Contained in a protective reliquary, the relic is adorned in precious materials. Often the journey has multiple destinations spanning many miles from one holy relic site to another. Pilgrims stop at each site to touch and see physical manifestations of their faith and make personal connections with the relics, in hopes of experiencing an inner spiritual transformation through the powerful energy emanating from the objects.
To go on pilgrimage means to step out of daily life in order to encounter spirituality, receive clarity, healing, and become a personal witness to the transformative energy contained within relics. A witness observes or experiences something giving testimony of the occurrence, thus validating and inspiring others. Pilgrimage, when done on foot, enables one to fully experience the journey. Removing the barrier of shoes in the practice of earthing, a scientifically supported concept, one physically connects with the earth, allowing the current of the body to flow into the ground and receive energy back, thus physically intaking the essence of the ground upon which one stands. The energy of every former being and experience in that location is transmitted through the earth. The experience of pilgrimage is all encompassing: physical, emotional and spiritual as one receives energy from surroundings, and reflects on the journey of transformation.
In creating this work, Earlywine set out on a pilgrimage of personal significance, revisiting sites from her most sacred and transformative experiences. "I sought to take in the energy the ground had to offer, the essence of my past. It was a journey of conscious personal discovery, identity and appreciation for the transformation of my own being." A single polaroid photograph in each location becomes the artifact, a way to preserve and continually draw from the essence of her self-proclaimed sacred spaces. I am Witness to Your Transformation invites the viewer to acknowledge their own transformative experiences and anonymously share them with the artist. This collection of personal experiences is a shared spiritual relic, emanating the collective energy of the viewers.
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I am Witness to Your Transformation is an installation video work, projected onto a gold-leaf screen.
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August - September, 2021
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April 2020
