Evolution of Roots

by Browning, Robin Eileen

Browning, Robin, M.A., June 2008 Integrated Arts and Education Evolution of Roots Chairperson: Karen Kaufmann Committee Members: Jim Kriley and Dorothy Morrison Somewhere a seed was planted long ago. It grew, changed and developed. It was sheltered, nurtured, fed and pruned. This seed took form, evolving to become a tiny sprout. The sprout was exposed to warmth and rain, time and sometimes pain, a process lending to further maturation. This in turn, once again, changed the youngster to a young sapling. Education, unfamiliar concepts, and exposure to new and different areas and elements developed this young sapling into an adult tree. This process of evolution was to record a lifetime of growth. The growth rings would expose times of great nourishment, times of trauma and drought and times of renewal and vigorous growth. This tree would evolve from seed to sapling to young adult, and finally to a fully mature tree. The evolution of growth would take time. With time would come knowledge, and with knowledge the tree would at last realize the stability and wisdom her roots possessed. She would find that her roots were capable of maintaining her through a life of trials and uncertainties, and through a lifetime of pleasures and development. For me the metaphor of a tree was the foundation of this project. There was no precise moment that it came to me. For many years I have been drawn to and entranced by this mysterious, living, surviving form. As I researched, my eyes were opened to intriguing comparisons between my artist?s life and the growth process of a tree. These similarities could not be mistaken for mere coincidence. The dim awareness with which I began this journey would evolve with each new tree rendezvous. These encounters would come in the form of research, interviews, observations, music, photographs, and finally layering all the elements together into a film format for viewing. This wisdom filled form would lead me down the path I needed to travel in order to rediscover my artistic realm. As a young sprout struggles and pushes its? way through the dark depths of the soil, so I had to push and fight my way through my own darkness. With these trees leading me, I would become tantalized by the similarities, correlations, and eventually clarity I would uncover in the growth and death of a tree, and how it all traced my journey as an artist. And so this journey has taken me from the seeds of my past to the vision of my future to come. This is the life of a tree. This is the evolution of an artist?s dance. This is the growth and development of me.