Throughout the summer and autumn, Sarah Beth Goncarova was here in Nova Scotia bending branches, wiring lights and recording sounds. In August and September we were privileged to have her experiential sculpture, What Gifts the Rain May Bring, installed in the secondfloor gallery at Main & Station. She also created installations in the gardens at West Bay and at The Pond House. Check out the videos, words, and images below for a taste of her wonderful creations.
What Gifts the Rain May Bring from Sarah Beth Goncarova on Vimeo.
Sarah Beth Goncarova is also a poet…
What Gifts the Rain May Bring
for Judith and Harvey
What you call Invasive Species
I see for what they are—
scourged by hurricane winds,
dried up and tired and
picked at and picked over
Oh-so-ready to rest their broken bones
into the damp
In these I see
a haven in the trees
for fireflies lost and forgotten
seeking shelter
from the wind who
will always have her way
A nest to nourish lost dreams–
the ones most meaningful and yet
most likely to be sneered at
and declared Invasive
and sprayed with Round-Up
and chopped up don’t worry
it’s better this way
I see a place where you can do handstands and cartwheels
and build castles in the mud
and forts in the trees
and play Uno in your undies
in a tree house by flashlight
and talk like gangsters
and chew on carrots like cigars
and drink root beer floats without mom knowing
and blow bubbles through straws
with your nose
We all need a place to play–
a nest for fireflies lost and forgotten
where you can do anything
or do nothing
and just watch what gifts the rain may bring —
even when, especially when
we are all grown up.
-Esbie Goncarova
Venus of Parrsboro. A living sculpture of alder wood and moss, commissioned by The Pond House Pottery Center, Nova Scotia.
“Her movements large and lush, flush with green, she bends and twists in roaring dance and silent prayer to sights unseen.”
