Lamentations, detail

Starting a new body of work is a shot in the dark, sometimes. I start with an idea and I need to make part of the piece to see if the materials, technique and design are going to express that idea the way I imagine. The idea for this piece, Lamentations, started in spring of 2021 as news reports poured in of the high COVID transmission and subsequent death rates in India. The rest of the world was suffering high transmission and death rates, but it was happening so fast in India that one reporter’s phrase ‘crematoriums are working overtime’ kept sticking in my head. The overwhelming grief circling the world seemed like it had the potential to plant the seeds for a great growth of compassion among people.

Each little pouch in Lamentations has ashes in it - sticks, mostly, from my fire pit. Each is meant to acknowledge and honor the grief and suffering being shared by all of us. Each is connected in some way to the next.

Lamentations, 49 x 67 x 5”, fabric, thread, ashes, steel

I used repurposed fabrics from lots of different sources, wedding clothing that my grandmother wore, a silk skirt from a friend, fabric from a friend’s elderly mother who can no longer sew. I dyed some of the fabric with Sumi ink and left other the way I found it. This piece casts several sets of delicate shadows against the wall and moves slightly with ambient airflow. Shadows are always important in my work - they represent something that’s there, but can change or go away with the amount or direction of the light. Shadows can be magical - creating something new behind or near the actual object casting the shadows. And the fact that they are ephemeral seems to make some sort of statement about our connection to this life.