Heedlessness series totems

"Heedlessness is a pillar that sustains our world, my friend." 

This line of Rumi's poetry is especially apt for our current moment in the world. 

The series of totems shared here grew out of contemplating that line (translated from Dari).

Heedlessness Series, 3

Title: Heedlessness Series 1 totems. 
(c) Susan Galleymore.

Heedlessness Series, Shame Totem No. 3

Meditating on Rumi’s "Heedlessness is a pillar that sustains our world, my friend", the narrative accompanying this shame totem considers migrants and migration in the age of climate change.

 
As we see with Pakistan in 2022, rising sea levels affect, and will continue to affect millions of people who live in coastal areas and who will have to scramble to higher ground to survive; millions more will be displaced by the scramble.
This sculpture depicts the dominant figure trapped by rising water, already thigh-high, as she attempts to rise up and out of it.
Her right arm and shoulder are formed by three snakes, a white feather, and a small key. Her snake-like arm grips a walking stick, an object that guides, comforts, and offers security. The snake that curls and winds around the woman’s torso may stimulate a viewer’s ambivalent relationship toward these wild creatures - and to nature.
The white feather signifies the artist’s regard for the written word… and suggests that words are one key to the artist’s/author’s well-being.
The woman’s left arm and shoulder are formed by a ladder upon which she supports a fleeing migrant…or an ambitious person. Thus, the ladder can represent a means of escape or social and political ambition (often the downfall to clear thinking about climate change). The ladder rests on, or rises from, the Hand of Fatima, an emblem (warding off the evil eye) and an object of beauty and safety.
The migrant that clambers up the woman’s thigh is, perhaps, someone who has not heeded the mounting evidence for climate change or is someone who lacks the resources to ensure her own safety.
The woman’s headdress – an occupied lifeboat riding the waves – suggests the occupier is in a social or financial position to ignore inherent danger or harness it as a temporary means of excitement and pleasure.
The many faces in this piece suggest that, for now, populations may continue to rely on magical thinking and 'business as usual' to deny an almost inevitable future with looming catastrophes.
Size: 40” (h) x 12” (w) x 11” (deep) 

__________________________

Heedlessness Series, No. 4 Shame Totem* : Title: “Message in a Bottle” 

Further meditation on a line of Rumi’s poetry -- "Heedlessness is a pillar that sustains our world, my friend” – the narrative accompanying this shame totem invites the viewer to imagine what our oceans might communicate about their plight, if they could.

Would the oceans remind us that starfish – symbolizing what, in balanced moderation, are beautiful – are, now, having overpopulated, destructive to life-supporting reefs and sea life? 

Would the oceans remind us that the bottle represents a paradox: that it is both the trash smothering our planet and a potential vessel of communication? 

Would the oceans remind us that we owe it to ourselves and the next generation – symbolized by the expectant couple in the lifeboat – to stand up more vigorously for our life-sustaining environment? 

The message in the bottle can be anything a viewer chooses. 

My choice of message echoes that of philosopher Lao Tzu, “If you don’t change direction … you may just end up where you’re headed.”

__________________________

 

Title: Heedlessness Series No. 2. ( (c) Susan Galleymore.

Heedlessness Series, No. 2

Still riffing from a line of Rumi's poetry -- "Heedlessness is a pillar that sustains our world, my friend" -- I researched the location and dispensation of our planet's largest landfills. 

These dot the planet and countries compete for title of World’s Largest Landfill; the current favorite is South Korea’s Sudokwon (a marvel of geometric engineering 30 km west of Seoul). 

Mexico City’s Bordo Poniente held the title until it closed in June 2012. In 34 years of operation more than 70m tons of waste were dumped here (56 feet deep in some places) and 1.5 million tons of methane were released per year.

In the U.S., the biggest landfills are in Shawnee, Kansas, followed by Puente Hills, near Los Angeles, and Apex, near Las Vegas.

This sculpture sits on a pedestal inscribed with the "Heedlessness..." line of Rumi's poetry. Two figures strain to hold up the pillar upon which the planet rests; a snake, a recurring motif in my work, coils around the pillar.

On the upper (northern?) hemisphere of the blue planet, "X" marks the spot on the continents that host the world’s largest landfills. The Pacific Garbage Patch (spelled out) raises awareness about the state of that ocean ...and all of our planet's polluted oceans, seas, and rivers.

On the lower (southern?) hemisphere, I present landfill names at different angles to signify the lack of coordination in addressing the reals requirement of a planet increasingly smothered by waste.

Here, the equator is a round-a-bout of endangered oceanic creatures: turtles, whales, salmon, puffins, penguins, albatross, and dolphins.

The sculpture’s head, the "thinking" core of our world, erupts out of turbulent waves that almost cover the woman. She wears a necklace of semi-precious beads around her neck with a fish skeleton pendant. She is crowned with a garbage barge with waste piled so high it spills over the sides. The barge, however, is also a lifeboat offering shelter to the segments of humanity that must migrate from their traditional homes due to the effects of climate change.

The barge/lifeboat is named "Lollipop" (as in the “Good Ship Lollipop”).

Size: 24” (h) x 15” (w) x 15” (deep)

__________________________

Title: Heedlessness Series 3. ( (c) Susan Galleymore.

Heedlessness Series, No. 1

Another take on "Heedlessness is a pillar that sustains our world, my friend" – this sculpture  addresses an aspect of Woman/Women, in the age of climate change.

Here, the human body, like the planet, is under siege from the pressure of living the Western lifestyle. This includes pressure to consume beyond need to excessive "getting and spending” (‘we lay waste our powers” according to Wordsworth), and to keep up with the latest “in” thing.

Women must both turn to one another for sustenance and support and compete with one another for goods, services, and resources.
Meanwhile, the obvious - the body/planet connection - is overlooked, over-ruled, over-indulged, etched on, sketched on, and kvetched over.

Size: 27” (h) x 10” (w) x 15” (deep)