listener

Listener is an expressive artwork about empathy and the process of compassionate listening. It is about the way that when we are truly present for someone else, we are able to keep all of the other things from our life at bay, and allow a clear, open space for whatever the other person has to share. It is an openness to all kinds of listening- to a person’s words, as well as any other kind of expression. And it is not only about holding a space for it, but that the experience being shared by another person matters to us.

As a process, I created this piece by placing a bowl upside-down on a paper, and dripping/splashing liquid watercolor and ink on it, allowing it to splatter freely on the paper outside of the protected space inside the bowl. I also added a subtle background texture to represent the meshy network of my time, space, and thoughts also staying outside the listening space.

This piece reminds me of the process and the way it feels to let all my outside life stuff do what it may outside a protected space where I am focused and listening. It is a bright and beautiful process created by the gift of allowing space for someone else’s experience.

“It is a bright and beautiful process created by the gift of allowing space for someone else’s experience.”

Listener was created in Adobe Photoshop, where I combined paint and ink textures, a scanned bath-sponge, and type.