5 feet, copper, stone, water, 2006

Selkie

Commissioned by the Center at Westwoods, Selkie is the powerful spiritual partner and visual balance to Portrait of a Spirit in the Meditation Garden. 

Unlike the calm, concentrated flame of Portrait, Selkie is a wilder, passionate form tentatively holding onto the upright stone.  Inspired by the legend of the Selkie  as told by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D.*, I tried to capture the essence of one’s “soul skin” left, billowing in the wind, while the waters of its creative-self flow out from under it.  

Selkie represents the times in our lives when we toss our soul-self asunder and, in doing so, unknowingly initiate the journey back to ourselves.  It is placed in the Meditation Garden as a reminder of the seasonal cycles of our spirit’s path, and the beauty that is inherent in all it’s phases. 

*Women Who Run With The Wolves, Ch9, “Sealskin, Soulskin,” Ballantine Books, New York

The Center at Westwoods, 590 Gay Street, Westwood, MA 02090 (781)-329-0711, or visit  centeratwestwoods.com

Meditation Garden Composition by Gary Koller; Koller and Associates, 81 Montclair Avenue, Roslindale, MA 02131-1350