Bodily structures stand before you and the mind immediately begins to make interpretations based upon its experiences and valued aspects of survival and pleasure. The skin, the hair-ladened head, and the smile all harmoniously vibrate an attempt to portray an image one believes acceptable to its world. All the while, vise versa reciprocates. And reciprocates. To perceive thoroughly, through objectivity, another’s true nature, seems a rare experience for the mind, despite our longing otherwise. No matter how frequently we traverse relationship, the inner landscape is like a secret garden, privileged to the psychic elite. Honestly, tapping into one’s own inner being is difficult enough in itself. But, every 133 years or so, the universe throws us a bone, opening a portal to its magical kingdom for us all to see. For now such portal is located in Marshall, North Carolina, upstairs in the Madison County Arts Center. Here, Laura Kathleen Marsico, the forest muse, plants, waters, and grows 33 trees she calls “site-specific sculptural installation.” Made of various recycled material, Marsico has erected each tree through its own story-telling. Marsico’s art manifested from her mind, but physically grew on-site. Upon gallery soil, nurtured expression and free-flowing energy have gathered molecules in a “just-so” way for senses to experience what seems to be multiple aspects of not only Marsico’s life, but the human-in-being as well. At times you may feel the desire to trampoline cartwheels across the ground, and at other times standing still amongst the trees seems more appropriate. This is not your typical exhibit experience. A natural mysticalness lingers all around, where your own presence is reflected as art.
Marsico’s trees have allured many friends and the local community to carve their artistic expression upon this love-made forest, including the Commun-a-tree, individual creations made by the women of Madison County.
To step outside the mundane shackles of the mind seems to be a necessity now. With honesty as a life boat, the demise of mankind’s cramped cage and the evolution of her metaphysical wings feels real. Thank you Laura for being one such life boat. Here’s to 33.
