A firsthand account by Katy Luxion
With summer winding down, and the perpetual bombardment of signs and advising, it makes me happy to be able to recall the eight days that I spent on Horn Island. I hope that this little glimpse of what the days were like bring you as much joy as they brought me.
What/where is Horn Island? It’s a small island off the Mississippi Gulf Coast, 10 miles out into the Gulf of Mexico. Once lush and full of life, it suffered greatly from hurricane Katrina. Luckily, the years after have allowed the island to slowly regain its glory.
We started out trekking down from Memphis to Pascagoula, MS, stopping by Ocean Springs, MS to learn more about our influence; Walter Anderson, a watercolor (see image to the left) and mural artist from the 1930-60s. Having found refuge from his Schizophrenia on the island in his later years, his work drew me in from the moment I stepped into the museum honoring his works.
Moving down through small cities to a desolate island made for a slightly easier transition, but not knowing what I was facing going into added just the right about of anxious excitement. Eight days with just a tent, food, and the fresh watered that we’d brought with us on the island.
As a student, we were required to trek the shorter width of the island to set up camp. At first, in the hot sun and packed down with camping gear, I thought we’d drawn the short end of the stick. After getting to spend the week waking up to schools of dolphins that would swim along the coast, rising with the sun wasn’t that bad either.
Each day there was to be dedicated to the experience, getting to know the island. An early shortage of sun block ended-up restricting my movement, but waking up to take pre-sunrise walks allowed for the few photographs that I paired with this post.
Watching the birds soar overhead and the tiny ghost crabs skitter across the cool white sand showed the beauty of the world untouched by the fear and quest for progress that we see around us. Progress in its own right is extremely important, but valuing the grace and beauty in what occurs naturally needs to be better integrated into our daily lives.
We forget how clean and refreshing it feels to be swept up in a wave or caught in a smooth breeze untainted by fumes and toxins. To look around us and see nothing but the pure love of creation being allowed to live as it was meant to. Humans are giants among the animal kingdom, with the unfortunate habit of living house sized footprints.
Living on the island for this brief period of time allowed me to reconnect with nature. Meditating and teaching myself to breathe again has played in integral role in the projects that I am currently working on for the showed inspired by the trip (the show will be open August 24th through October 2nd).
Taking inspiration from nine endangered species that reside on the island and traditional patterns found throughout a variety of cultures, adapting the naturally occurring shapes into repeated patterns. These are getting engraved on glass plates that will be used to print 5 editions of each print. These will then be hung up forever, becoming part of three sculptures that will also be for sale and displayed at the show.
As I continue to work on these pieces, I’ll be putting images up at www.katyluxion.com. I’d love for you to follow my news updates on an RSS feed, but as I gather email addresses I’ll be weighing the options of email updates as well.
Feel free to email any questions about this experience or any other art related topic to info@katyluxion.com.
