"The Uniting of Separation and Unity 1"

Pōhutukawa root from a fallen tree in Auckland — the first work in the Unity series.

A single root, split lengthwise and rejoined side by side. Two halves of the same thing, separated and reunited — the form itself enacting the idea.

The Uniting of Separation and Unity is a body of work rooted in a single, profound idea. Unity, as John Allen understands it, is not something imposed from outside. It is something arrived at from within — through the willingness to open oneself, to do the inner work, to release what no longer serves. It is in that process of individuation that the paradoxical deeper realisation emerges: that beneath the surface of individual experience, we are not separate at all.

Finished with natural oil and wax. The surface retains a raw tactility while subtly enhancing the grain and tonal depth developed through time and exposure.

Pōhutukawa root · Oil and wax · 580 × 280mm