Primordial Majesty
Daniel Ruffles
Introduction
Inspired by Sara Maitland’s book ‘Gossip from the Forest’, Primordial Majesty is set around a place known as ‘The Thicks’. Maitland describes this as a place of wonder, musing on elements of folklore and fairytale. It’s a place that echoes the complex relationship between time and our perception of reality.
As you walk this unique landscape, you can see the contrast between the ephemerality of our own lives and the eternal grandeur of the ancient world.
Time shifts elsewhere and becomes abstract. Our mind becomes immersed in the continuous flow of sensations and perceptions.
As I’ve continuously explored this woodland, I’ve experienced a deep connection to nature. In our increasingly tech heavy lives, there is a disconnect between humanity and the natural world.
Through nature, we can reconnect with our innate sense of wonder and peace. “The Thicks” is a natural world that existed long before us and will endure long after our time.
In employing a number of methods, I’ve set out to explore this connection, bringing into being an occasionally fragmented or abstracted landscape, challenging traditional representations, with the inclusion of self acting as a way to explore our own relationship to the natural world.
Priomordial Majesty serves as a meditation on time and a search for meaning, and as a catalyst for reflection and change, maybe we will find a deeper appreciation for the perviousness’ of our own existence.
Aerial Overview of Staverton
Impression I (10,000 steps)
Left: Impression II
Right: Resilliant
Top: Impression III
Left: In The Soul of the Forest
Top: Towards a New Tomorrow
Right: The Upper Hand
Top: Holly Study
Left: Fauna of Staverton Park
Left: Dwarf
Right: Descendants
Left: Relic
Bottom: Shroud I
Flowing Consciousness
Top: Bones of Staverton
Top: Veil
Left: Shroud II
Left: Impression IV
Right: Tracing Back
Top: Majesty II
Right: Impression V
Ascension
All images © Daniel Ruffles. 2024.