Contrasting Flows
Crossing the Rio Grande at Socorro, New Mexico we experience a contrast in flows…that of water and that of earth.
The Rio Grande flows mostly southward, following a path of least resistance through the Rio Grande Valley. Drawn by the force of gravity, the waters of the river are always falling. Drawn by Coriolis force, the waters are always moving in an anticyclonic flow toward the equator. This seamless flow of water paints a green stripe through the arid landscape…a meandering path of life.
Immediately to the east we see evidence of the tumultuous history of the Rio Grande Rift. The path of earth, in contrast to that of water, is the result of crusting magma flows and the forceful exertions of layered and colliding tectonic plates. Through eons of heaving collisions erratic rippled patterns of multi colored earth have formed and defined the landscape between the ranges of the rift.
The path of earth is shaped by rules and the physical dominance of geological features of great mass forcing their will on the terrain. The discord is memorialized in umber and sienna hues on the twisted and contorted rocky features in a landscape marked by extinct volcanoes. Meanwhile, the path of water is influenced by unseen forces of motion that guide it according to its nature. The harmony is expressed in soothing green and blue hues of growth and life.
The Aerial Horizon 