This scultpure depicts the morning after Creation. The very embryonic structure of the walnut speaks of it. Newborn light paints the scene in the finest tones of brown and pink. Daybreak fills all of the space, illuminating every living cell as it pulses with life. The branches and fruits of the tree are clearly and distinctly visible; bright dewdrops are rolling down dark green leaves. There is a sense of newness, of youth. There is life but no decay. This is the Garden before the fall of man. The walnut tree symbolizes the beginning and continuing of life. Two essences – male and female, yang and yin – are united inside the nurturing, protective space of the shell. This is a union of two opposites. Together they make a whole; apart, they are incomplete. It is no surprise that in the old days a nut was believed to bring luck to those in love. A place of safe haven, it reminds us of Hamlet’s declaration, “O God, I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space.”
