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The Transformative Wisdom of Sand

Kseniya Simonova has captured the attention of millions people world-wide.

By Diana Rivera | Posted 6/12/09 | Updated 1/19/21

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Like many of you, I have many fond memories of being at the beach and playing in the sand.

Using the tip of my finger, I would practice my penmanship by writing my name. If I got very enthusiastic — which was and is often the case — I would get a long stick and write a bigger message with the hope of being seen by a traveler flying on an airplane across the pacific. I always felt like there was something magical about sand…how it could run through my fingers one grain at a time, moisten into a clump and be molded into a sand castle or become the perfect slate for my writing.

I recently came across a new understanding of the power backed in sand with the winner of the Ukraine's version of "America's Got Talent." If you haven't heard or seen it, let me introduce you to the winner, Kseniya Simonova. This artist has done something I have never seen before. She has taken sand and has transformed it before our eyes in a giant light box. The portrait she has "painted" is then screened for the audience to watch. What we see is an interpretation of Germany's invasion and occupation of Ukraine during WWII in the most jaw-dropping manner.

Siminova has captured the attention of over 3 million people world-wide. Everyone who has watched this seems to have been touched profoundly on a heart, soul, intellectual and creative level. Every report I have read with comments from viewers have all demonstrated this incredible affect and catharsis from a brutal time in world history.

For me, I remained baffled. How could sand in a box illuminated by light cast such an unforgettable interpretation? How did she know how to do that? How did she know that there could be that much wisdom behind sand?

There were many things that stood out to me from this interview, but it's how she got to do this work that I want to highlight. It wasn't just her loving childhood memories growing up near the sea that led her to do this, nor was it this overwhelming desire to commemorate her brethren (although that was there too, let's not exclude them). It was a credit collapse that got her doing it. It was totally practical…the family business went down so what is she going to do now to feed her family.

Her art spoke to her in a place of collapse and I am assuming broadened her sense of what is possible in a time where things could appear extremely limited! Similarly it is no coincidence that she was drawn to interpret a time of national challenge and deliver their swan song through the transformative wisdom of sand. Often in times of challenge, crisis or collapse, we reflect on those who have experienced similar or worse for inspiration. This knowledge coupled with yearning, a need for change, a surge of stress and a spark of intuition tapped into that creative flow which we have all viewed with opening hearts.

©2009 Diana Rivera. All rights reserved.

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Diana Rivera is a performing artist, producer and facilitator of drama, arts-integration in the classroom and creative empowerment coach. more

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