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Carl Lantz Hearts, Wood, & Words. "Artwork, as a
catalyst. Nurturing. Healing. Evolving.
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Burrowing for Light: One man’s passage heartward.
by Rich Hamilton
Heart of the Night
In the stillness of the night when all Else is asleep and Your Self is awake.
In the deepest, darkest hour. Of the night. Of Your Being.
Such is the moment when the first glow. Of hope of return to Peace. Begins.
In Your Heart. -Carl Lantz
March 2003. Phone lines are down. Two days of torrential snow-pour along eastern Colorado’s Front Range. The nation, on the brink of war: the U.S.-led invasion on Iraq. Weapons of mass destruction, a weapon of interior design, the design of beguilement hurled and whirling toward communities around the world, toward the American public. Carl Lantz cocoons. Restless, he moves to a silent fury that percolates from within. Shakes from his limbs, the impulse to ignore the drone of bloody voices, the ever-widening chasm between action and inaction. Still, there’s waiting. Wondering. A nation torn asunder, the days numbered, the looming attack. Phantom-like is the fall of snowflakes, disappearing into a barrage of white canvas. The silence, winter, is louder than the shrieking grind of steel-upon-steel from train tracks, the garish whistle blow from a train foreman. Alone, Carl peers out from his living room window. The streets are desolate, covered with snow. Across the street, a woman has posted a banner in her window; WORLD PEACE, it reads. And for a moment he’s overcome with a sense of optimism. The whole of humanity hadn’t been lulled to sleep, into resignation. He fingers through his cauldron of journal entries piecing together a burgeoning vision, a way toward peace through the Heart. Carl yields to an inner calling to use his artistry, his skill as a wood worker and former engineer to produce a work of art, an experience, which hinges on healing Hearts. It’s called “Spectrum of the Heart,” a collection of thirteen Hearts and life-sized torsos sculpted of different wood-species and each accompanied by poetry. It comes after forty-four years of life experience. The escalating “War on Iraq” was, for Carl, “the straw that broke camels back.”
Getting in touch with the Self.
Born in 1959, Carl remembers a time when being closed-hearted was the norm. The phrase, “big boys don’t cry and men don’t have feelings” was the motto he lived by most of his young adult life. In 1981, he became an engineer, following the only life he knew and in his father’s footsteps. The fast-paced and insensitive world of corporate America, the chew-um up and spit-um out philosophy, ate away at Carl’s sense of Self. And a decade later, at age 31, he leaves the cubicled existence of the engineering world to Be still, to figure out the essence of Carl. He spends the next 10 years of his life burrowing for light, finding the path to his heart. Clear Hearted
A window into the Self so that all Else can see the clarity of intent.
A transparency of Being deceptionless with an absence of hidden motivation.
Transcend the cloudiness of that which You were told into that which You know by Your own experience.
Have a Heart free and clear of its past wounds.
Clearfully Be.
-Carl Lantz
In November 2002, notes written in stream-of consciousness style begin to pour from his Heart. The spring snowstorm is, in effect, an incubation period, a time to organize many Heart-felt intuitions into an artistic medium that would positively impact people everywhere.
To Chip Away, the Armors.
If “boys don’t cry and men don’t have feelings,” then what do they have? Why do they have? A Heart of Steel. As the U.S. begins shipping weapons overseas—combative steel tanks, missiles, stealth bombers— the hardened state of the U.S. governments’ Heart becomes ever so clear. An illusion, Carl insists. An illusion of a tough guy without remorse for his actions, without compassion for the world community. Without compassion.
Heart of Steel
To present the façade of the apparently impenetrable shield.
To portray the illusion of strength by wearing iron clad armor.
An isolated island in the interconnected sea of Life.
Why the ferrous façade? To keep light and love. Out? To keep darkness and fear. In? Such a heavy Heart.
So much energy spent keeping the Self from rusting. Away.
-Carl Lantz
Design of a Heart.
“Spectrum” is designed to engage the right and left sides of the brain; the combined effect of torsos, heads and Hearts as a visual engages the right brain (the sentient side), while the poetry engages the left brain (the logical side). The combination of both abstract poetry and sculpture allows you, the individual, a pathway to the state of your own Heart. They are imbued with an incredible amount of life energy. One walks into a room full of light, not artificial light, but light pouring off the torsos of these sculptures. To that end, in the wake of life challenges (a deceased loved one, a pathological ill, a broken Heart) when the push to change is imminent, “Spectrum” has a way of facilitating further the change by providing a mirror into the depth of your Heart.
A Laying on of Hands.
The last rays of an evening sun pour through the window of Carl’s workspace. This shop, located just behind his bungalow, is home to all his tools neatly spaced along the walls and tables there. Dust particles, suspended and floating in air, dance in the sunlight. The lavender paint on the walls lend all the fixtures a baby-soft tone. Carl carves a block of incense cedar. With precision, he guides the wood in a circular motion against the jagged-edge blade of a band saw. The aroma of incense cedar inches around the room, crawls up my nostrils, soothes me. Great care is taken when working with the electric machinery. Once the cedar is generally round, Carl sands it for clarity and definition. He depends exclusively on hand tools now. Silent, he pays attention to every line and curve revealed to him in the wood. The grain or texture of the wood has a story to tell. He relies on the feel of it beneath his hands to guide him through the process. He carves and sands the wood accordingly. At each step along the way, the shape of the wood, the feel of the wood begins to narrate a very unique story.
“This sculpture is co-created in conjunction with the essence of the wood. By working the wood. With my hands. To feel the wood. As it changes shape. Beneath my hands. To follow the grain. To let the wood tell me. Carefully. Full of care. To arrive in harmony and balance.”
-Carl Lantz
Touching Lives: One Heart at a Time.
The collective impression of “Spectrum” is uncanny, is bound to give each individual something to think about. And in fact, Carl has created this work to do just that. The work has the power to change lives. Carl chooses to inspire, shift, and move old paradigms that slow the human races’ movement toward a Heart-felt symbiotic community. According to Carl, “the evolutionary process of the human race is at stake.”
Spectrum of the Heart
Just as light passes through a prism to create its own unique spectrum, so can the essence of the Heart be. Experienced.
Just as the purity of white light is created by the inclusion of all, so the Self is. Created.
Focus on all the Heart’s light shining. In Your Self. In the mirror of all Else.
Harmonize the pieces deep within Your Heart into a Heart of Peace.
Embrace all. Whole Heartedly.
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