Embracing Mystery

Photo by Jim Doty Jr

Winter Solstice approaches in the northern hemisphere, a season marked by long hours of darkness. Having previously emphasized the magic of the incremental return of light that follows winter solstice, this year I want to herald the power of darkness and the healing mystery that it brings. 

It is no wonder that many of us do not like darkness. Sight is often the most dominant of our six senses. An inability to see unknowns lying hidden in darkness makes us fearful and apprehensive. Still, in the big picture, winter’s deep silence is also an opportunity to rest our eyes and allow other senses to play a significant role.

Image from Science News

Something truly remarkable happens when we allow ourselves to sleep for longer periods of time. Unsuspected possibilities find nurture in nightly retreats, allowing for the incubation of barely conscious ideas. Dreams emerge with mosaics of long forgotten memories. Tiny seeds in our imagination sprout invisible roots. All of this remains unseen for weeks or months, prompting our rational mind to suggest that nothing is happening. We become impatient for this mysterious process to morph into clarity and visual evidence that our time of rest has not been wasted.

Photo from ABC News Australia

I am emerging from a long period of darkness. The decade I devoted to exploring humanity’s ancestral roots was similar to a long hibernation. Now that Seed of Imagination has been published, similar to Rip van Winkle, my refreshed eyes are discovering how the world from which I withdrew has changed. Walking in downtown Eugene, familiar landmarks are gone, replaced by strange shops with unusual facades. While I was sequestered in my studio and at the computer, some enterprises died. New ones have taken their place, or an empty space was left for something else to emerge.

Fear not. 

If you welcome it, 

darkness can be your friend. 

Image from St Louis Science Center

May this season be filled 

with deep mystery, 

giving birth to a commitment 

to create fair and just communities 

that give care-filled attention 

to the needs of Gaia,

Mother Earth.

A Meaningful Art Gift

SEED OF IMAGINATION: An Ancestral Creative Journey traces our human migration from East Africa to Southwest Asia, Southeast Asia, Ancient Near East, and Oceania. The legacy of these ancient monumental journeys out of Africa is shared through visual art, journal entries, and intuitive reflections on travel and research. 

Wagner's self-portrait wraps around to the back for international endorsements.

Through recounting her decade-long creation of Celebrating Our Maiden Migrations, an installation of two and three-dimensional artworks, LiDoña Wagner invites you to explore your own deep ancestry, migration as a timeless reality, and human impact on our amazing planet. The narrative of this beautiful art book opens with:

I am on a journey,

both excruciatingly solitary

and frighteningly communal,

traveling with our ancestors,

migrating from place to place.

...

Based on Wagner’s own DNA test and genetic research carried out by National Geographic’s Genographic Project, the text is structurally similar to the DNA helix itself. Two story lines curve and turn throughout the narrative: the artist’s personal ancestral journey via travel and art making and our common human journey out of Africa. The bridge between these collective and individual forays into the unknown is formed by stunning paintings, sculptures, poems, and photographs.

Each of five sections opens with a poem followed by one of LiDoña's Stone Age paintings. Bear Greats the Sun, LiDoña Wagner, Collection of Gail and Munir Katul.  

Side pages with history, anecdotes and personal reflections add depth and dimensionality. Artists will find the book’s photographs of the evolution of Wagner’s mixed-media acrylic paintings, multi-board configurations, and kinetic mobiles fascinating and instructive. 

Photos from Wagner's exploration of her paternal ancestry in Sicily.

For anyone who loves beauty and the creative process, has done ancestral research, occasionally thought of swabbing a cheek, or ever wondered, “Where do I come from?”. 

Available at: lidonaw@gmail.com

Price is $39.95 plus shipping. Three or more copies for $38 each plus shipping. Receive in less than a week.

Available at: BookBaby https://store.bookbaby.com/book/SEED-OF-IMAGINATION

Price is $39.95 plus shipping. Through Print on Demand service you receive your book in two to three weeks.

Endorsements

... A journey of the kind depicted in Seed of Imagination is what I wish for every woman who is caught in a web of weakness, paralysis, and immobility in order to move her to be care-filled and audacious about the choices she makes.  

—Mary D’Souza, Founder and Director, Aditi Learning Centre, Maharashtra, India 

I’ve been deeply engaged with Wagner’s book ,,, the width and breadth of her mind and creative expression boggles me. I love how she allowed her process to guide the work. Her paintings are unusual and magnificent. The prose took me places I’ve never even thought to go. Now I want to swab my cheek and send in my DNA! I will return to this book again and again for inspiration.

—Skye Blaine, author of Bound to Love: a memoir of grit and gratitude and Unleashed

Transcending time and geography, Seed of Imagination is reflective of the necessity of courage in the essential art of living. An astonishing creation, this book is truly a legacy for all times.

—Sarah Buss, village development in Upper Egypt and author of Love Letters to a Mirage in the Desert and The Other Side of Midnight

Seed of Imagination shows how the human spirit and changing geography shaped our migration from Africa. The knowledge that we are children of an East African mother turns the myth of racial supremacy and communalism raging in Malaysia and around the world on its head.  ... 

—Dharmalingam Vinasithamby, freelance writer and public speaking coach, former editor for Asiaweek in Hong Kong and The Straits Times in Singapore 

... The book motivated me to find ways that I might better tell the story of African resilience in communities everywhere.

—Terry Bergdall, PhD, author of Methods for Active Participation: 

Experiences in Rural Development from East and Central Africa

At a time when our differences are a dividing force, Seed of Imagination is an insightful poetic narrative that invites us to discern deep-seated connections that have been submerged in a sea of unconsciousness. ... She weaves science, genealogy, her art and personal history into an exquisite tapestry of colorful connections that ignite a fiery celebration of our deep global roots. ...

—Eunice M. Shankland, training and facilitation consultant, Shankland & Associates LLC and UN Agencies

Tremendous and utterly unique! Seed of Imagination is a celebration of earthlings’ common ancestors and their ingenious migrations, resulting in the different cultures present today. If the people of Oceania could build outrigger canoes to carry entire communities across the ocean, what incredible journeys are possible for societies all over the world?!

—Aimee Hilliard, Executive Officer for Ecumenical Ventures: Chicago and Island Ventures: Philippines

What Is A Torus?

Energy field known as the torus

As a young woman I witnessed round mud huts arranged in a circle in villages of Africa and later Angkor Wat’s ladder-like temples blew me away. Fast forward to 2008 and 2017 when I was dazzled by the swoops and curves of Frank Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and Guggenheim Museum in Bilboa, Spain.

This year’s reading of Lois Stark’s The Telling Image: Shapes of Changing Times put all of these awe-inspiring architectural wonders into perspective. The thesis of her book is that in each era of history human beings create architectural forms that model their understanding of social reality. The circle is the most basic form, imitating the shape of the sun and moon and denoting a social organization of shared leadership and cohesion important to a hunter gatherer lifestyle. The ladder (pyramids and square stepped temples) emerged with settled hierarchical societies that lasted from the birth of agriculture, through the industrial revolution, and into the twentieth century.

Temples at Angkor Wat

Seeing Earth from space gave human beings a way to see the absence of boundaries and the fragile beauty of ecosystems, forcing us to step outside our narrow view of reality and take an eagle-eye view of ourselves as not living in isolation but in relation to a broad shared context. And at the microcosmic level, seeing the DNA molecule set the centuries old ladder spinning, giving us a look inside the bodies we had assumed were bounded by skin of differing shades. 

The Helix - ladder takes a spin in DNA molecule

Thus in our time we have seen new architectural forms arise that depict different ways of thinking, living, and organizing our social life. As I read about and saw photos of incredible new forms of architecture around the world, I found my social paradigm shifting, morphing into images of networks and energy systems. 

Galaxy design for Auroville, a planned town in India

Galaxies, networked nodes, and electrical energy fields are some of the inspirations for contemporary architecture.

Hudson Yards in New York city

Today's architects use computer programs to help design buildings that are now possible because of new materials such as those used in aeronautics and space vehicles. Impacted by the earth-rise and knowledge of climate change, contemporary architects incorporate living systems into their designs. 

Grass-roof helix, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

The energy field surrounding each human body is the shape of the torus and we can expect to see more structures that imitate energy fields such as this. I find myself contemplating what these structures say about our body politic. How do these new images inform the creation of peace on Earth?

Florida Polytechnic Institute 

Even before reading The Telling Image, my social paradigm had begun to shift. For the past year, faced with the metastasis of my breast cancer from twenty-two years ago to my bones, my morning and evening meditations and healing visualizations have begun with an image of being part of a galaxy of Love, Hope, Expertise, and Archaic Body Wisdom. So, even without Stark's book I had begun adopting a new way of seeing the world. I bet you have as well.

Trusting Inner Guidance

Where do you turn when a decade-long project appears to be coming to an end or morphing into something not yet fully grasped? I often go to my Tarot cards for navigating such transitions, so in July, as I began recouping my energy after the exertions involved with showing my installation Celebrating Our Maiden Migrations, I pulled out my Osho Zen Tarot deck. Flipping the manual to Card Spreads or Layouts, I spotted one I had never used before – The Flying Bird.

After scanning the description, I decided to go for it when I saw that it involved both the masculine and feminine sides of myself and that each card higher on the layout would move me “into greater clarity and inner spaciousness. As I read the cards, I found myself deeply moved. 

After living with the results for a few days, I decided that I wanted a personal visual representation of the messages I was receiving and decided to make a ‘rood screen’ – a collage of images glued to the inside of a file folder. The file folder would allow me to fold my collage up to take anywhere and would be strong enough to stand up wherever I placed it. Here are the results of my reading with my personally selected images.

1.     Bottom / Lift-off 

TRUSTING INNER GUIDANCE

2.     Left side / Fear of Flying 

LETTING GO INTO NEW DIMENSIONS

3.     Right side / Response-ability to the Fear 

SHARING VIA COMMUNICATION

4.     Left side /Inner Support (intuition) of Responsibility 

REMAIN AT EASE

5.     Right side /External Support (intelligent action responding to the intuition) 

EAGLE’S VIEW OF POSSIBILITIES

6.     Left side / Relaxation and Acceptance 

ACCEPTING CHALLENGE OF THE UNKNOWN

7.     Right side / Arrival at A New Level of Awareness 

SPIRITUAL SPRING OF MATURITY

Final Rood Screen 

Emptiness Refills itself

Supplies are neatly tucked away in the closet.

After packing everything for the Seattle exhibition of Celebrating Our Maiden Migrations my studio was empty, both physically and emotionally. Upon my return, I removed vestiges of the migrations project from the studio door, replacing them with the seven chakra colors. Then to make room in the bedroom closet for storing Maiden Migrations, I removed a rack of necklaces that I love and enjoy. I moved the rack to an 'empty' wall in the studio and above them I hung some of the India migration mementos.

The stick in the corner will be an elephant to go
with Southwest Asia in future exhibits. 

Shortly after this move, I received a donation request for one of my 'framed jewelry pieces.' I had donated two in the past: a small sculptural pendant and a butterfly pin. Curious about this jewelry synchronicity, I agreed even though I had no idea what I would create.

One move always triggers another and while hanging the mementos I noticed that my painting table had been gathering dust under an open window. I decided to move the table down a bit where it would catch less dirt. To do this I needed to move a large vertical storage unit out of the corner, replacing it with a smaller unit that serves as my cutting table. 

The maple tree outside the window makes this a desirable painting space.

After rolling the large unit to another corner, I collected a few items that inspire me and put them on the top: tree seeds and bark from Venezuela, a sea fossil, a succulent, an Egyptian bird, a table runner from Thailand, my zen toned clock, and an Aboriginal Australian picture of the Creative Power of the Universe. 

I completed my inspiration corner by adding some
inspirational quotes to the exposed side of the large unit.

Just then, I got an unexpected email from my gallery in Seattle with early plans for the December group show. Would I make/send two new pieces for a show focused on 'light'? Thinking maybe I could do something with my recent Gelli prints that have a lot of white (last month's blog), I said "Yes."  Since distance allows me to see things better than close up, I laid the prints on the floor.

Meanwhile, during a wire-wrapping workshop at a local bead store, I created a bird's nest pendant for my 'framed jewelry piece'. I decided to suspend the pendant on a string of tiny beads, simple but elegant. This meant I needed an unusual frame. After finding some frame options at Goodwill, I began fiddling with them, the Gelli prints, and the pendant. Getting up and down from the floor, it struck me that this was an awkward way to develop these projects. So I pulled a five-foot long table out of storage and set it up in the middle of the room.

My painting on the back wall, Maiden Mother Crone, reminds
me that the mothering phase of my life is over. The new priority
is sharing whatever wisdom I have gained.

 After a couple of days, I found that it was in the way of my other work spaces. Examining my options, my eyes landed on the round glass table that I use for seated work and for helping students. I discerned that switching the tables would make work flow between areas easier. Voila!

Table for my 'framed jewelry piece' and two 'light' compositions.
For final work on these I will hang them on the wall behind the table. 

I love my new studio space. The empty studio has been filled with new projects about which I knew nothing when I returned from the Migrations show in Seattle. It feels as though the empty future is beginning to overflow with possibility.

Becoming A Generative People

Becoming Generative LiDoña Wagner Gelli print 2019

A self-aware aging population in the United States could be one of its greatest resources for dealing with our national crisis in democracy. Four keys to living a long and healthy life - purpose, generativity, relationships, and face to face contact - align with addressing our nation's systemic problems: economic inequality, decline in government investment in public goods such as education and infrastructure, political polarization, and unfair and insecure elections that result in low voter turnout.  

Purpose LiDoña Wagner Gelli print 2019

Purpose: Address Economic Inequality

By devoting time and energy to creating innovative solutions to economic inequality one can have a life of purpose. While economic inequality is at the root of violence and mass incarceration here at home, it is also is a major cause of international migrations that are exacerbated by climate change. Here at home, 1% of the population controls more wealth than all the rest of us. Globally, consumption in the northern hemisphere is 32 times that in the southern hemisphere. While people in North America and Western Europe have turned a blind eye to this imbalance for decades, starved and exploited populations in the south now understand that the global economic system is stacked against them. New national and global economic policies are critical.

Generativity LiDoña Wagner Gelli print collage 2019

Generativity: Invest in Education & Infrastructure

The evolution of Homo sapiens occurred through investing in, caring for, and developing its off spring. Thus, our ancestors developed education that would prepare the next generation for the future and created public goods such as libraries, infrastructure, research in agriculture and health, and civic spaces for dialogue. Today we see this beginning to happen locally where people are taking employment and climate issues seriously. Two women in Utah were able to bring wind power into the state’s electrical grid. (Note: On a daily basis, family cats kill over 200 times more birds than wind farms do.) Solar farms in Georgia are being coupled with regenerative agriculture to bring new jobs and sustainable farming to its outlying areas.  

Relationships LiDoña Wagner Gelli print 2019

Relationships: Overcome Polarization

In Jared Diamond’s Upheaval, Turning Points for Nations in Crisis, he uses a model from crisis therapy to present historical examples of how seven nations addressed crises. Most chilling for me was Chile at the time of the US/Cuban missile crisis. The shift from a democracy into a dictatorship happened largely due to political polarization. In the United States today, we need to develop relationships that transcend age, geography, religion, and political boundaries in order to restore our identity as a democracy with freedom and liberty for all.

Face to Face Contacts LiDoña Wagner Gelli print 2019

Face to Face Contacts: Invigorate Democratic Participation

Youth from Parkland have taken their concern about school safety into the field, making face to face contacts that have opened fresh impetus for gun safety. Whether or not Elizabeth Warren wins the Democratic Party’s nomination for the presidency, she is doing our country a service by conducting a grassroots campaign that engages people in face to face conversations about what is needed for the future of local communities and the nation as a whole.

How are you engaging in face to face contacts? Do you take public transportation and greet the bus or tram driver? Do you engage in conversation with your grocery checkout person or thank those who deliver your packages and mail? Civility is a learned skill.

Regardless of your age, you can begin living a long life now by declaring a purpose, investing in future generations, developing cross-bias relationships, and being open and responsive to face to face contacts.

Maiden Migrations Launched

Welcome to a Visit with Our Ancestors

LiDoña Wagner’s artistic work honors the courage and innovation of our ancestors who left East Africa 75,000 to 50,000 years ago and walked or sailed to every corner of planet Earth. The intent of the installation is to establish an environment that evokes reflection on our global family, the human genome. 

Our African Homeland

Homo sapiens evolved in Africa more than 800,000 years ago. All humans alive today are descendants of those first Homo sapiens. From a tiny population, they multiplied and migrated to every corner of planet Earth.

Southwest Asia

The first Homo sapiens to leave Africa crossed the Gate of Tears at the south end of the Red Sea around 75,000 - 60,000 years ago. Navigating by sun, moon and stars, they followed the coast (and fish) going east. Some humans settled in areas along the way, a tiny blip in a world dominated by wildlife. Their descendants are found today in Arabia, Iran, and India.

Southeast Asia

A seismic eruption 72,000 years ago on the island of Sumatra sent volcanic ash as far away as India, affecting the earth’s climate. Descendants of the first coastal migration from Africa reached Southeast Asia 60,000 - 40,000 years ago. For centuries the fertile Mekong Delta drew migrants along the coasts and up and down the numerous rivers flowing from the Himalayan mountains.

The Global Journey

Migration maps from the geneographic project of the National Geographic Society

The Rising

Introducing Homo sapiens first land migration into the land of the rising sun,
later called the fertile crescent.

Ancient Near East

During a warming period on planet Earth 50,000 years ago, a second wave of Homo sapiens left Africa.They traveled north by land, following animals they hunted, through the Nile Valley and into the Sinai Peninsula.These adventurous migrants expanded into the region known today as the Middle East, laying foundations for Western civilization.

Perilous Majesty

Catastrophic environmental events occasion migrations

Oceania

Descendants of the first coastal migration reached Australia 60,000 - 40,000 years ago. Millennia later, 1300–1200 years ago, the last part of the world to be occupied by Homo sapiens–the PolynesianIslands–was reached by indigenous Taiwanese sailors. Through oral tradition, their descendants pass on sophisticated navigation skills: celestial knowledge, wave and wind patterns, sea creature habits, kinesthetic reading of water currents, and more.

Wagner's Ancestral Journey

The migration path of my maternal ancestors, disclosed in a 2010 DNA test, is depicted on My Ancestry stabile to the right. Self-portrait above reflects updated information from a second DNA test in 2013: 41% of my DNA matched that of people in Denmark (Deer– maternal ancestors); 40% matched that of people in Tuscany (Hand symbols – paternal heritage); 17% matched that of people in Southwest Asia (Goddesses –ancestors of first coastal migration).

Resources for Maiden Migrations 

Binder of Wagner's DNA results from geographic project and book covers as
a sampling of the many resources used to develop this body of work.

The Human Journey  

Going upstairs to view works for sale.

Stone Age Series

Stone Age paintings on the right

Mementos of Maiden Migrations 

Elephant Hunt and Dingo Dog

Archaeological Dig

Transition from Pilgrimage series to Maiden Migrations

Creative Process Accordion Books

Mementos and accordion books from residency in Assisi, Italy

Mementos of Maiden Migrations 

Mementos for Africa, India, and the Middle East

Breakthrough

Transition from Stone Age to Pilgrimage series

Ancient Civilizations

Memento of Indus Valley civilization in what is currently Pakistan

Continuing the Journey

Returning downstairs to continue the human journey