Noel Ashton - Mindful Nature
Creative Journeys - Transformative Stories
The Ubuntu Bowl offers each of us an invitation to a journey towards reawakening the kindness in our hearts, the joy in our lives and compassion in the world. And in this we might become one of the change-makers in a world that is much in need of change
Every sculpture has a story to tell, stories that reveal themselves during the quiet reflective times in the studio, for hidden within the original inspiration for each sculpture are layers of thoughts and past experiences, questions and learnings that informed the pathway to that single moment when the sculpture was first given form in the mind of the sculptor. For hidden within the symbolism, the meaning and the inspiration are the silent conversations of the subconscious that shape who we are and how our lives unfold. In this they offer each of us a gift of understanding.
The Ubuntu Bowl was no different, but it does stand alone as the one sculpture that offered me some of the most important and profound shifts in how I see the world. A convergence of reflections and thoughts took me to a single point, and helped me to begin unravelling that one mystery of life which confronts us all along our own journeys of self discovery, of who I am, and how do I fit into this magnificent but mysterious world.
I cannot say that it offered me all the answers, but it did take me along me an extraordinary pathway of unfolding self discovery, and because of this, I wish to offer it to others as they seek to understand themselves in that human quest for meaning, joy and community.
"For me, what is so significant about this sculpture is how it continues to touch the lives of the many people who hear its story, some resonate with the invitation for personal renewal and awakening that it offers, others the deeply moving sense of reclaiming our humanity and kindness in a world where they have become hidden, the reawakening of community, or the dynamic shift in how we see and interact with the natural world.
But central to them all seems to be the way the bowl invites each of us to pause, and to reflect on our search for happiness, joy and meaning in our daily lives and relationships, our sense of self-worth, and what it really means to be human in these difficult times of change.
And I believe this is because, when the deeply symbolic form of the bowl is brought into alignment with the intrinsic values and messages of Ubuntu, we begin to see and resonate with the potential of this story, for it offers each of us a context from which to seek answers to two of life’s most fundamental questions which confront us throughout our lives, namely, who am I, and how do I fit into this magnificent but mysterious world?
It does this by bringing these two questions together in a unique and powerfully compelling way, and along the way offering us a completely new perspective in our search for solutions to our global environmental crisis.
This is why I wish to share this story, for at its essence the Ubuntu BOwl is the most powerful touchstone that has come out of my studio, and so it has become an offering, a gift which I wish to release into the winds of the world
This bowl has taken me on a journey, for although it is so simple in form and an object of the everyday, it holds gresat symbolism, and as a touchstone to something deeper in has allowed me to look more closely at what it holds within it, for beyond the form of the bowl, there is an inheratn gift, and so the journey which it took me was far and profound, biut at its essence it brought me back to myself in a world which has forgotten how to do that.
What the ubuntu bowl helped me to do was seek answers to two of the most fundamental questions we all ask at differernt times in our lives, of who am I, and how do I fir into this magical but mysterious world
It is when we give that we re-discover who we are,
for in this remembering we see,
it is in our relationship within community,
that our lives are given context,
and our purpose, meaning.
It re-unites us with our hearts longing to offer kindness and caring,
so often hidden behind a world of too much noise.
This is what I learned from the Ubuntu Bowl and its journey of self discovery
Born of the earth and forged by fire, the bowl represents a convergence of elements, of earth, fire , air and water coming together in a creative alchemy of transformation, and out of it we are offered a simple object of the eveyday, but one that within its simple form there is held a gift of gentle kindness.
This was the transformative journey which the Ubuntu Bowl offered me as a sculptor in those quiet times of reflection in the studio. For I began to see that it was at that point where the elusive force of Ubuntu fused with the symbolism of the bowl that a journey of self discovery began, and which along the way took me to the very heart of things, for it is at that point that the Ubuntu bowl helped me to look closely at what it has to offer us
and central to this is fire, that intense heat that burns our skin, but which also brings about a crucial change, for without it the bowl would melt back into the earth under the first of the softest rains.
It reminds us of the duality of life, and at its essence the fire that transforms the bowl takes us to a place of the gentlest kindness
It is when we give that we re-discover who we are,
for in this remembering we see,
it is in our relationship within community,
that our lives are given context,
and our purpose, meaning.
It re-unites us with our hearts longing to offer kindness and caring,
so often hidden behind a world of too much noise.
From this comes the deepest of joy,
in the knowing that we do not walk this world alone.
And for those that receive, the deepest comfort,
for they then also know that they are seen,
and that they belong
in a world brought together by a gentle kindness.
This is what I learned from the Ubuntu Bowl and its journey of self discovery