Light and Man
Zoë Victoria Gibson, winner of the Alexander Thomson Scholarship 2021, shares their submission piece featuring an illustration and accompanying narrative. You can find more information on the scholarship here.
As starlight fade and moonlight weakens,
Daybreak returns to the unchanged landscape as a regular visitor to start this new chapter.
Heathers glow purple, pink and green against the unchanged honey slopes of earth and stone.
Like a guide from nature, to the mountainous peak that offers itself to the sun.
A view.
Stunning and imperceptible, their regular acquaintance is welcomed for another day; the light.
To exhibit the landscaped flaws and features as another’s perfections.
A new visitor, foreign to the mountain and the sun; man,
Seeks solitude and quiet in their capable arms of nature and relaxation.
Away from this new despair.
This new noise and commotion; panic.
Both in their rawest state.
Both in a vast landscape where they can be together.
Quietly.
Light and Man.
Never have I been so appreciative of the world that I live in, than I have since the COVID-19 Pandemic Outbreak. I loved going to work in the city, university in the city, cafes in the city, driving past my silent and beautiful backdrop that I simply knew as home.
Challenges have faced me left, right and centre last year, from losing my father who was working abroad in Nigeria, to being told that I could not see my family or friends during this time. In a world where everything had changed and where I started to feel so lost, I grew to appreciate my environment around me.
I noticed the small flowers and bursts of life in the grasses and meadows near my house, the terrain- how it changed in the seasons from rocky, to icy to lavished with green and purple. I noticed how much I appreciated my own company and how to cherish this time with myself for reassurance, for sanity and for relaxation.
Listening to worrying news on the radio was replaced with silence and a pen. Worries of vaccinations and impossible solutions, rekindled my love for model making. And grief for my father, represented by threads on a canvas of my thoughts going round and around in my head but forever being grateful that I was able to be safe at home.
I have chosen to present to you three illustrations, of safety, and of sanctuary.
The first, two embroideries that were made in anguish for my repetitive lifestyle of completing the same thing day in and day out. But each day had its separate entity, of which I have learned to appreciate.
The second, a small version of a two metre tapestry (drawing) of my doorstep. Representing the nature, the textures and the intricacy of the world around us.
And the final accumulation of images, the topography of a world that I can call home. And my idyllic dwelling for within this - little impact, massive intent. The building, dictated by light and seclusion, where one can appreciate their own company as I believe many people have learned to do. Tiny Dwellings.
Zoë Victoria Gibson Winner |The Alexander Thomson Scholarship 2021