#3. Convergence and Kinship
I knew that I resonated with Humbravana, but most remarkably, as I worked alongside Imero Gobbato, a deep kinship developed between us with a growing sense that we had known each other before. Vivid dreams and visions re-emerged to me from my past, which I had noted in my journals or captured in drawings long before I even encountered Imero’s art or came to know him. They seemed to confirm our deeper connection. Strange natural phenomena-especially with birds-occurred while Imero and I were out on daily walks with Maurice, his fluffy, white dog. We marveled at the symbolism and synchronicity. There was magic all around us! And all these pieces began to form a story, a sort of timeless, ageless existence where I lived and breathed in the land, his land, and interacted with the characters, his characters. I began to discover myself in Humbravana.
Pilgrim’s Path | Buy this digital print.
For many years now, these mysterious bonds, have drawn me deeper into the strangely familiar place of Humbravana; guiding, teaching and inspiring me. At times I have tried to let go of the immensity of all that it represents and demands of me. I have questioned and examined in logical, practical ways the fantastical, mysterious and often unexplainable existence of this kind of fantasy-land, and why and how I have been so touched and strongly affected by my experience of it. At this point I have come to accept that whatever attracts me and keeps me in Humbravana is above and beyond me. It is my destiny I suppose, and will not let me go- nor do I want to be released! Because I know deep inside that it is a place that is good for me, and what goes along with that is a persistent sense that it might be good for other people too, as well as for this beautiful place we call Earth.
I know by now that I am not the only one who is attracted and intrigued, curious and even hungry for A Place Called Humbravana. This is why I often struggle and push myself beyond my comfort zone, and write these words, because I feel I must continue to do my part to share the gifts I have received through my encounters with the art of Imero Gobbato.
I cannot explain how and where Humbravana exists, it is a mystery. But perhaps through Imero’s creative work, and my own, others will find their way as I have onto a familiar path. A path that guides us onward in some beneficial way.
Imero described Humbravana as ‘The Land of the Eloquent Shadow’. Over the years I have analyzed the phrase a great deal, and come to understand Humbravana as a place of seeking and aspiring, forming and transforming, climbing and falling, and shifting in and out and in between the shadows of the absolute extreme opposites of the light and the dark.