Wonderland
We enter through an arched door on the face of the hoodoo into a fantasy sculpture. So white it might be made of snow, but it isn't cold. No, the sensuous curves are carved out of the white sandstone that was once part of an inland sea in Northern New Mexico.
Like Alice falling through the looking glass, we arrive in a mysterious space. Locals call it a cave. The cave digger himself, Ra Paulette, calls it a shrine. Adjusting to the soft light from the skylights, we find ourselves in a stone woodland with twisting trunks of sculpted trees, ornamented with planet life, and peopled with small faces of forest creatures.
It is nearly impossible to believe that this inhabitable work of art was created by a single individual using just axes and shovels and his wild imagination. Niches and alcoves carefully rendered in the sandstone invite exploration. And speculation. What does the artist want us to experience? Wonder, appreciation, a sense of serenity—we turn and wander with a mix of those emotions.
When it is time to leave, we walk out into the late afternoon where the New Mexico sky provides more wonderment.
