Misa Gott

The other way to listen (2021)

This collection of paintings is inspired by 'The Other Way to Listen' by Byrd Baylor, which encourages the idea of 'listening to everything, from rocks to animals and mountains to plants. This resonates with me because I was brought up in Japan where there's a long tradition of recognising spirits in everything around us (natural and man-made). Seeing animacy in everything enables you to feel more reverence and humility but most importantly to find joy!

“Swept away with the idea, he said it felt like an awakening to him. More like a remembering, I think. The animacy of the world is something we already know, but the language of animacy teeters on extinction—not just for Native peoples, but for everyone. Our toddlers speak of plants and animals as if they were people, extending to them self and intention and compassion—until we teach them not to. We quickly retrain them and make them forget. When we tell them that the tree is not a who, but an it, we make that maple an object; we put a barrier between us, absolving ourselves of moral responsibility and opening the door to exploitation.” 

― Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants