“Absolute: Connection” Points to Our Shared Bonds
by Daric Gill
{Feature Video of Painting Process Above}
Three round elements of color sit behind a central twig. These circles are positioned where a weathered branch and the background meet. The largest circle is a slightly translucent shade of cool white. A smaller pale green circle marks the point of contact for the smaller chute of the twig. Grounding the longer section of the twig is a slightly smaller, yet more chromatic blue circle. A faint white ring sits just outside the blue hue. The twig is frozen in a timeless bend, casting a stark ‘S’ shaped shadow to the right. The circles all have a unique quality, sharing in visual dominance. Their controlled geometry complement the organic twist of the twig. As the stick gets thinner, a green tint takes over the wood, indicative of tiny living fungi. Growth and deterioration, symmetry and off-axis, connections and extensions– each part of the visual language in Absolute: Connection. Read on below for the full article and image gallery.
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Leonardo da Vinci first observed more than 500 years ago that “all the branches of a tree at every stage of its height when put together are equal in thickness to the trunk.” In other words, if a tree’s branches were folded upward and squeezed together, the tree would look exactly like one big trunk with the same thickness from top to bottom. Absolute: Connection explores this relationship through the lens of the shared human experience.
The day was hot, nearing 93˚F (40˚C). I decided to ride my bike a few miles to the Dresdner Heide, a large forest located northeast of Dresden, Germany. The woods were shady and comfortable even though I was working hard to ride through the longer eastern trail. I spent several hours in the forest before seeing another person, and only then it was as I neared the community on the outside edge of the heath.
This wasn’t my first time to the heide, but it was the first time I investigated this area. The soil was sandy and the trees seem familiar. A small creek was to my right and a bright rusty red sediment deposited at the bottom of the water. There are moments where the woods transitions from the robust deciduous foliage and curvy trunks to straight needle-lined evergreens. The twig in Absolute: Connection was taken from this transitional moment, as the trees changed from curvaceous to linear.
The heide is an old forest. Bronze age burial grounds and centuries-old pottery have been found in this sandy soil. I am alone, but I can feel the generations of people in the air around me. I am not the first person to be grounded in this enchanted forest. And I won’t be the last.
Special thanks to:
Special Thanks to Greater Columbus Arts Council, Galerie Raskolnikow, Kulturstiftung des Freistaates Sachsen
"About the Greater Columbus Arts Council: Through vision and leadership, advocacy and collaboration, the Greater Columbus Arts Council supports art and advances the culture of the region. A catalyst for excellence and innovation, the Arts Council funds exemplary artists and arts organizations and provides programs, events and services of public value that educate and engage all audiences in our community. The Arts Council thanks the City of Columbus and the Ohio Arts Council for their continued support. www.gcac.org"
"About Kulturstiftung des Freistaates Sachsen: The foundation initiates, realizes and supports projects. It awards scholarships and buys works by visual artists. Their goals are the development of new forms of artistic expression and the sustainable transmission of contemporary art and culture. The maintenance of cultural heritage and the promotion of young artists are also part of their tasks. It supports projects of national or national importance and contributions to international cultural exchange. With its own projects, the Cultural Foundation is responding to social and cultural change in Saxony and neighboring European countries. It develops programs to support cultural dialogue with European neighbors in Central and Eastern Europe, but also in North America and East Asia. For additional information, visit kdfs.de.
Daric Gill Studios 
I enjoyed and felt your experience in the heide thanks for sharing again.
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Of course! My pleasure. Thank you!
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