#69 - Lungwort Maze
- This is my second maze of the shelter at home era.
The COVID-19 pandemic has me thinking about healthcare and how it has and has not advanced over the centuries. It used to be that medicines were selected from the natural world because of superficial resemblance of the plant with the part of the body needing treatment. The lichen, Lungwort, was used for respiratory ailments because it sort of looks like lung tissue. Of course, it isn't an effective treatment for anything.
However, because I like lichen and I'm thinking about lung health, Lungwort became the subject of my current maze art work. This maze took about a month and half to draw, working for an hour or two per day.
I've had a sample of Lungwort on a table outdoors along the pathway between the yurt and the cottage since last fall. I see it several times per day and studied its structure. The warps and curved hollows all imply flow patterns. The rips in the surface crinkle and dry on the edges and reveal hidden layers below or just darkness. Some damage or disease punches pinholes that, in turn, stretch and cause orange/pink stains on the surface.
Tendrils of moss push in from edges, trying to climb on top to catch what sunlight they can. The sky reflects in the moisture, beading on the rough parts and collecting in the hollows.
The maze itself has two entrances and two exits. Though, by the definition of a maze, there is exactly one path between any two points, the entrances and exits can be anywhere. Choose your own adventure.
The solutions to this maze are tours through interesting places that drew my eye. In addition, in a fit of whimsy, I hid some messages in this maze. Though highly stylized and twisted, the phrases, "In memory of those that fell in the pandemic of 2020", and "Every day has a blessing" are hidden in the pathways. I suspect they're nearly impossible to find. The skull, though, ought to be more obvious.
