Surrender
How do I make each piece in my collections? Each one is an authentic journey through the emotions that arise as I live a life of reflection and vulnerability. I share these journeys in the belief that we are all stronger together in meaningful connection.
All the pieces in the Vulnerability Collection have been inspired by the landscapes of the South West of Western Australia, which is a biodiversity hotspot. Whilst making this collection I immersed myself on Wadjuk Noongar Boodjar (Perth), Wadandi and Pibelmen Boodjar (Margaret River-Augusta), and Wagyl Kaip Boodjar (Denmark). Being on Country brings me into a state of flow and mindfulness that I weave into every artwork. I breathe slowly and deeply to steady the camera lens, I become more attentive, I lose track of time, and I find perspective. I write short stories based on my reflections that then inform my artwork.
The artwork titled “Surrender” has been grounded in the following short story that I wrote while on Wadandi and Pibelmen Boodjar, as I reflected on vulnerability and the strength in surrender. As the writer and researcher Sarah Lewis says, “ to surrender means not giving up,” but “giving yourself over to another mode of being” through a process of courageous and expansive self-inquiry (2014, p.86). That is, by acknowledging a situation, by accepting that it exists, you can find the wisdom you need to make way and move forward - a state of being that researcher and psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi describes as “that inner strength and serenity we admire in people who seem to have come to terms with themselves” (2002, p.217).
In the following story, I explore this journey from struggle and resistance through to the acceptance, centeredness, and expansiveness of surrender.
Surrender
I told myself - I am granite. To stand against this raging coastline, I must be grounded and unyielding. I refused to see my layers of limestone.
With time, strains like rivulets of water carved paths within me. Chambers formed, opening for the unknown. I feared such spaces. I felt them as fault lines beneath the surface, so I held myself firm and refused to surrender.
Yet, I felt the roof cave in. It revealed a flowing stream, a waterfall within. All those moments in time come together to create a world of surprising beauty.
I now see life opening anew before me. In the reaching light, vines take root. Streams stretch out their limbs to claim new ground.
Haddleton, Elise. 2024. Surrender. Vulnerability Collection.
Lewis, Sarah. 2014. The Rise: Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery (pp. 70-71). HarperCollins Publishers.
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. 2002. Flow (p.217). Rider Publishing.
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