Wintering

The Austrian poet and writer, Rainer Maria Rilke, considered winter as the season for tending to the inner garden of the soul. Wintering explores winter as a metaphor of the seasons of the spirit. The series opens with Portal, a gateway through which we enter a meditative hibernation and pause for a contemplation in nature.

Wingfield captures the skeletal splendour of bare winter trees. Stripped of their verdant clothing, the intricate fractal lace of their branches is exposed with humility yet not vulnerability. An atmosphere of humble quiet prevails, but the hush of winter’s voice is deceptive. Each tree is in fact quietly working through a process of self-renewal and healing. The pulse of life is beating with resilience but at a slower rate, preparing for spring.  The wheel of impermanence continues to turn steadily regardless of the tumultuous human drama unfolding.

In Wintering, beauty manifests itself in winter lands braided with frost. Our attention is brought to the soundlessness of winter. Snow absorbs sound waves due to the porous nature of flakes, and the landscape mirrors the muffled quality of the soundscape. Wingfield has composed a photographic rendering of winter’s music. Wintering is an invitation to tune in to a different wavelength. We are coaxed into dwelling in the purifying stillness of winter and to travel deeper inward. If we pay attention, we could “receive” The Oracle’s wisdom and eventually find that the words of Albert Camus resonate: “In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer”.