Ben Hopper

Photos: Noam Gudgeon for 'Human Nature' - Mount Carmel and Atlit Beach, Israel - 11/42 images - Part 1/4 (Mar 2024)

Added 2024-12-31 14:36:43 +0000 UTC

Did you know that some hunter-gatherers don’t have a word for “nature”? They see themselves as inseparable from it. Have we disconnected from one another while separating ourselves from nature?

In 2018, following a challenging period, I stayed in an Ayahuasca retreat centre in the Peruvian Amazon jungle.

One morning, when I woke up after doing a ceremony the night before, I looked at the jungle around me.

For the first time, I noticed all the colours I could ever imagine — radiating in front of me in full glow — every leaf, insect, mushroom, tree, and bird. Across the water, mud, clouds, and sky.

And then I realised: ART is HOMAGE to NATURE.

This realisation has inspired me ever since. Through art, we playfully mimic and honour nature’s vivid palette. We attempt to recreate the never-ending fractal dimensions and life-webs it holds.

When creating this beautiful set with Noam, I asked myself: is this even a good time for art?

One sentence kept playing in my ears: “THIS TOO SHALL PASS.”

Yes, it's a good time for art, whispered the flowers.
Yes, it's a good time for art, sang and danced the weeds.
Yes, it's a good time for art, welcomed the rocks and the mountain.
Yes, it's a good time for art, pleaded the sun as she gave life to us all.
Yes, it's a good time for art, caressed the wind with love.
Yes, it's a good time for art, begged the infinite grains of sand, reminding us how we are all one.

Happy New Year!
May 2025 bring peace to everyone 🙏🕊

Photos: Noam Gudgeon for 'Human Nature'.
March 30, 2024. Mount Carmel and Atlit Beach, Israel.