Kristek’s sculpture Birth represents a tree with bare branches – the Tree of Life, the symbol connecting heaven and earth. Its branches reach up to the heavens, and the roots penetrate deep into the earth. In the shapes of the tree, one can find similarities with the human body – the tree trunk is like the torso, the branches are reminiscent of spread-out human arms, and the roots are evocative of feet firmly planted on the ground. In mythology, there are trees that speak to people, especially those who ‘seek the truth’, whose mind is open to transcendental stimuli. The originally small seeds undergo metamorphosis and gradually grow into a strong tree. Nature is the exemplar of endurance and doggedness, strength and resilience. Kristek located the sculpture Birth at the source of the Moravian Thaya, a rising, pure form of life. Its blue-white symbolism conforms the purity, clarity and calm that pours into the inner aspect of man at this place of pilgrimage. The sculpture Birth models the space and naturally blends in with the environment, because pilgrims hang on the branches various artefact they have brought.Barbora Půtová, Charles University