SONIA MELNIKOVA ART PHOTOGRAPHY

When the tide comes in, the seaside “still lifes” the ocean leaves behind begin to float and then drift back to the sea in a slow swirl. The very thing that brought them to life will bring about their death. But in Andy Goldsworthy's words, “It feels as if it's been taken off into another plane, another world.... It doesn't feel at all like destruction.” I am learning not to be afraid of the transience of things or their death and to accept that everything is ephemeral and subject to the ravages of time. And that the present moment is unrepeatable and precious even if it is fleeting.

As I discovered later, in my STILL LIFES ON SAND I came the closest to appreciation of the Eastern philosophy of wabi-sabi, of which I had not heard at the time when this series was created. This philosophy represents a comprehensive Japanese world view and aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience. It can be described as an intuitive way of living that involves noticing simple things which can be overlooked due to the high speed of of our everyday life. “Wabi-sabi beauty is everywhere in nature but especially in those places which experience an ongoing encounter with wind, waves, water and sand.” (www.stillinthestream.com) In wabi-sabi, “nothing is perfect, nothing lasts, and nothing is finished.” A broken seashell half-buried in sand is more beautiful than an intact and polished one on a stand in a living room.

Related series: WABI SABI, ZENSCAPES, FALL COLORS