The Elephant in the Room- Story and Preview Detail Shot

48" x 48", Oil pastel on birch panel

The Elephant in the Room

When the elephant proclaimed himself as life, not death, the room fell silent. It took a few moments for some, and others not until they were leaving, yet the realization of this significance struck all who took the time. For people feared and wondered, studied and pondered, yet were left with a gaping unknown. They thought this void of knowledge was the goal- to definitively find out and relieve this sense of lack of control. Until the elephant proclaimed what was right in front of them. With spell broken and eyes back in the present, it was somehow intuitively realized that the profoundness lay in the moments of life- and death- but the stark contrast to this tone.

The elephant was older and he was more wise. Those he had known and lost remained steadfast in his mind. His memories robust, allowing him to see, it is the glimpses of conscious moment shared or otherwise that make up the true meaning. Awareness in presence of every movement, every tick on the watch of a personal time, breathing in the seconds from finite to infinite, dancing the minutes away into hours of life; with years of moments adding up creating a timeline, a personal retrospect comprised of consciousness. Yet it leads only to the present, to the next moment, death but a shadow in the doorframe and only those who leave can see the vivid colours encircling, the shadow only envisioned black to those still breathing. To those whose loss feels start, perplexing no matter the age. There is a feeling of suddenness, and that, ah ha!, is tied to presence. When reality is felt so deeply it is jarring, to be shook completely by deep sadness paired with a deeper realization of what it means to be alive; swaddled by time instead of swallowed by it, breathing more focused.

The elephant spoke once more, his voice bellowed in the room, “Gaze inwards to understand all, stop staring at the door!”

Fall 2022, D.N.E.