The Healing Power of Open Hearts

 

“Heart energy is the new currency of the future,” says Lee Harris (leeharrisenergy.com).  I have been pondering this statement ever since I heard it and wondering what it might mean.

Last October, I watched the unveiling ceremony of a new art exhibit.  I watched it on my computer since I was sick at the time and confined to the house.  Call to Action #83 is now on its third round.  This innovative project combines the work of Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists around the theme of Truth and Reconciliation.  One artist starts the round and then takes their work to the next artist on the list, explaining their process, their thinking, their feelings. They have a conversation and take time to understand each other. The second artist responds visually and then visits the third artist with only their own work and another conversation takes place.  And so it goes.  The entire process takes around a year to complete.

As the artwork is unveiled, one at a time, each artist gets to speak to their own piece, their process and how the conversations affected their understanding.  The works emerge from relationships, from the inter-connectedness of the artists.  I have viewed the first two rounds of CTA#83 as well and so I can see how these visual conversations have developed over the years.  On this round, what struck me the most was the heart energy that moved through the round.  The artists were opening their hearts to each other and it showed.  From the vantage point of my couch, I imagined what my visual response would be if I was the last artist.  An image popped into my mind that was fairly complex and I had to think about what medium I might use to bring this image to life.

I thought about the image for a few days.  I take part in a Women’s Art Show each year and I wondered about making this piece for that show later this spring.  The 2023 theme for the Women's Art Show is Re-imagine.  I could work with that.  I can re-imagine a Canada in which the hearts of non-Indigenous people crack open in relationship to Indigenous people and that healing plants would grow from these open hearts to bring the healing that we all need

I decided to work in fabric along with embroidery silks and beads.  I would quilt the piece as well to give it a 3D feel.  I decided to make the piece circular to represent a round, a talking circle, getting to know each other, listening to one another, the shape of the planet.  Inside the blue circle, I cut a large green heart to represent the heart of the Earth, our mother, who cares for us all.  Then I chose different red fabrics to cut out 13 smaller hearts to represent the 13 moons, the 13 plates on a turtle’s back.  We all have hearts but they are somewhat different in DNA, life experiences, and stored trauma -- thus, different fabrics.  I used pinking shears to cut the centre parts of the hearts to represent them cracking open.  From inside these hearts came yellow fabric representing light as a backdrop for 13 medicinal plants.  I chose the four sacred plants of the Anishinaabeg since this is whose territory I live on; Tobacco, Cedar, Sage and Sweetgrass.  I added Strawberry which is used in ceremonies as well. I went through Christi Belcourt’s book  Medicines to Help Us: Traditional Métis Plant Use (2007) and picked plants that are used by Indigenous people as well as non-Indigenous people.  I have relationships with all 13 of the plants and I figured out how to represent each one with fabric, embroidery silks and beads.  Here is an overview of the cracked open hearts:

Now, I'll show you details of the piece and label all the plants:

Starting at the top left is Cedar which wanted to expand outside of the confines of the green heart and reach up into the sky.  To Cedar's right is Stinging Nettle.

At the top (in the centre of the piece) is Tobacco.  Below Tobacco on the
 left is Strawberry and to the right is Saskatoon Berry.

At the top (to the right of Tobacco) is Heal-All and to its right is Sweetgrass which also
wanted to reach up into the sky.  Below Heal-All to the left is Plantain and to its right,
Mint.  Below them is Sage.

In the bottom left of the piece are Jewelweed (top left) and beside that is Elderberry.  Below them is Maple.

I am still quilting the blue part which could be water or sky and I will finish it up with a binding of white and yellow to represent the moon and the sun.  Then I will figure out how to hang this on a gallery wall. But as Valentine’s Day approaches along with all the red hearts that that celebration entails, I thought I would share this work with you now.  Do we dare to let our hearts open in relationship with others, with people we might not even know?  What grows from an open heart? What healing does it bring?  The answers are as varied as the people on Earth I imagine.  But, it heart energy is the new currency of the future, then I imagine it’s time to open our hearts and get to work.