nature & art philosophy

PROTECTING AND RESTORING THE NATURAL WORLD HAS TO BE AT THE FOREFRONT OF OUR HUMAN EVOLUTION AND EFFORTS

The complex and delicate beauty of nature has always provided me with the inspiration to create art, weather it be through photography, sculpture or any other medium that I choose to express myself with. Early in my life I began taking walks in nature and forests and could not help but admire the inherent beauty and mystery I found in these non-human worlds. My desire to create art was born right there. Later my abilities to express myself artistically became more sophisticated once I was trained in techniques and studied with artists and craftsmen of profound skill levels. At the same time I studied and practiced art forms other than sculpting and photography, like theater, dance and film, that helped me to bring about a more poetic and fluid inner expression, which translates into my visual art practice. Today the boundaries of mediums often dissolve, even though I tend to choose sculpting and photography as my main mediums of expression. There are many artist that influenced me and keep inspiring my work. To name two: Constantin Brancusi, the Romanian sculptor and pioneer of modern sculpture at the forefront. And Joseph Beuys, the German artist, known for his passionate idea and concept of the social sculpture and how every human being is an artist and has a participatory and creative role in shaping society and politics. My art work is based in and sustained from the spiritual connection that I feel with nature and in close contact with the non-human world. To me especially when I am alone in nature, everything feels sacred. Translating these experiences into art is at the core of my artistic and spiritual practice. Nature has the capacity to awaken us humans to a different reality, one that is beyond the predominant and confined reality based on consumerism, exploitation and the ultimate destruction of the very planet that sustains us. Restoring and protecting the natural world and coming back to a sacred relationship with our Planet has to be on the very forefront of our human evolution and efforts. My hope is to be able to continue to contribute to this process with my artistic and spiritual practice, and to share what corresponds and emerges between my artwork and nature.

-Marcus Maria Jung, July 2019