To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour
William Blake, English poet 1757-1827, Augeries of Innocence
Val Hird ascribes the impetus for her progressive drawing The Unattended Moment to the back feathers of a European starling. Many have admired the bird’s remarkable purple-green iridescent plumage: glossed, flecked, and speckled, presenting a showstopping display of brilliance and mutability.
As William Blake suggests in his poem, profound beauty and meaning can be found in the smallest and most ordinary things. For Hird, these revelations point to the birth of the cosmos and the enduring mysteries of existence. Her drawings honor these moments of recognition and glimpses of clarity. She presents these drawings as progressive elements in a narrative that highlights the march of time – and our inability to suspend these moments that speak to us.
Hird’s drawings bring to mind many things: the human iris, solar and lunar eclipses, planetary shapes, and the symmetry of flowers. Through her narrative we recognize a consilience in the world, a convergence of evidence that points us in a direction toward understanding. I look at the film of these evolving drawings as an introduction to the full solar eclipse we will witness in April 2024.
The drawings shown here are different stages of one work, which is continually morphing. As it evolves and moves forward, it leaves the past behind. The drawings are best viewed in sequence.
Hird received a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She is represented by Nohra Haime Gallery, New York, New York, and Furchgott Sourdiff Gallery, Shelburne, Vermont. She is a retired professor of art, Saint Michael’s College, and professor of visual linguistics, Champlain College. She can be reached through her website.