ARTIST STATEMENT
Throughout history, people have made pilgrimages to temples. They have stood before altars, revelling in the tranquillity that comes with stillness, swapping the speed of earthly existence for a connection to something bigger.
According to pantheistic traditions, nature itself is sacred. Regardless of our personal values, there is often an inner knowing that we can find our place in the cosmos by seeking solace in the natural world. Temple stems from this idea of nature as a sacred refuge and offers a place of contemplative sanctuary.
Cockatoos fly in hypnotic loops, appearing and disappearing out of the frame in a reminder of seasons and cycles. They bathe and flap their wings, sending droplets into the space around them, dreamily falling and colliding in slow motion. Below each panel, a shallow pool of still water extrudes outwards toward the viewer, reflecting and refracting the on-screen images.
Together, the elements of Temple serve as an altar to nature. It’s a place that stirs the human spirit, somewhere that allows the viewer to consider deeper questions. But it also asks the viewer to see nature as their personal temple, the link between themselves and a universe that all living creatures are part of, and to understand the natural world as something to cherish and protect.
Leila Jeffreys x Melvin J. Montalban
