Infinity Upward – May/June 2005

Here is an Ethiopian story close to my heart. In it I will tell you why I felt moved to sculpt ‘Infinity Upward’.

As I said in the January/February issue of Sculpture NorthWest, my wife and I went to Ethiopia last year for a few weeks. We were able to visit many historical places, including the ancient cities of Lalibela, Axum, Gondar and Bahir Dahr. Words cannot express how excited I was showing off Ethiopia’s historical places to my wife. (This was her first trip to Ethiopia.) I was so full of pride and boasted, saying “When my people made this, and that, America was not born yet. We were waaaaaaaay ahead of our time.” We both loved every moment of it.  However, when we went to Bahir Dahr on Lake Tana (one of the sources of the Nile) my excitement changed to frustration.

The Nile, of course, has been flowing for centuries. It brings fertile soil and water to neighboring African countries, while the Ethiopian people are perishing from lack of water. Why hasn’t Ethiopia developed irrigation systems to utilize the water from Lake Tana and the 400 miles of Nile River that lies within its borders? As I rode on a boat on beautiful and huge Lake Tana, I began to burn inside. I wanted to jump out and stop the Nile from flowing. I knew it was foolish to think so

and that something besides a natural river system was the root cause of my wild thoughts.

Just then I saw in the distance young boys on their tankuwa (a traditional boat made from papyrus reeds) transporting a load of firewood. Then I began to wonder if they would be educated enough to plant new trees to replace the ones that had been chopped down. Did they know their actions could cause more soil to erode? There was not much I could do, so I said a prayer. As I was praying, a Bible verse came to mind: “My People perish for lack of knowledge.” Hosea 4:6. That’s when it came to me; a large number of the African nations’ problems could be solved if their people just had a basic education. While a worthy goal, achieving a basic education for many Africans will not be easy. There will be a great price to pay for it. But paying that price now will give us educated Ethiopians who can begin working on solutions to Ethiopian problems.

I could see that just being proud of my past history can’t solve the present problems or prevent the poverty and starvation of the future. I said to myself: what can I do? Well, maybe not much, but I left Bahir Dahr inspired to do something. When I returned home, I decided to create a sculpture to share my experience and to express my vision and hope about Ethiopia.

Last year I devoted countless hours sculpting a granite infinity sign to communicate this message: Education is very vital and has no limit.

The traditional infinity sign lies horizontally. In this sculpture, I have deliberately chosen to flip it upward. As the piece stretches toward the sky, it emphasizes that education has no limit. In addition, it puts the sculpture in a position of authority, overlooking the viewer. The piece is called ‘Infinity Upward’.

The sculpture has a rough texture on one side and a smooth surface on the other. The rough side represents hardship or the challenge of learning, while the smooth side represents the benefit of education. Joining these two surfaces illustrates that the learner cannot receive the benefit of education without enduring the challenges of learning. For example, if learners only focus on the difficulty of learning, they may never complete their goal. I want to remind the viewer that there is always a price to pay for anything worth fighting for.

It is my hope that the people of Ethiopia will somehow find the courage and determination, even in their present difficulties, to provide education for all. For it is only through education that a nation can make use of its own resources for its own people. I hope someday to see the water of Lake Tana and that 400 miles of the upper Nile River used in my homeland for the benefit of all its people.

Editirs’ note: The Washington Society of Certified Public Accountants has recently purchased ‘Infinity Upward’. You can see it outside their offices at 902 140th Ave. NE, Bellevue, Washington.