Mixed Media Sculpture Installation

"Altar of Acceptance" is the name of a series of works in which I explored a very personal, yet very universal experience: grief. Having lost three siblings, my father, among others, I am intimately familiar with the process of grieving.

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Three Altars

The first pieces, entitled Three Altars, are closed, suspended, and bound wooden triptychs. The spiritual, historical, and physical qualities associated with triptychs are the focusing points on this inward journey.

Withered Flower

Some of the pieces in this series are sewn and constructed with mixed media.The Withered Flower is made with rusted wire. Its underside has deep crevices and folds of blue velvet. On top the sheer fabric reveals the corroded wire surrounded by soft fluffy cotton.

Soft Altar

Soft Altar is literally a quilt of books. This performance piece begins closed and bound. I open the altar slowly and reveal books lying in soft cotton compartments covered by sheer fabric. Each book expresses a human's way of trying to explain life and death. The altar lies prostrate like a gentle memorial.

Circling Altars

Circling Altars are three groups of three forms. They are mixed media constructions that originate in the triptych form. However, instead of the fixed stance of the earlier altars, they begin to move in terms of visual momentum. Each group has a dynamic thrust, reminiscent of swimming fish. Out of the slow currents of the underwater world something begins to stir.

Teardrops

The large teardrops are six foot wooden altars with crystal doorknobs, cabinet-like with hinges. The apparent ability to open these pieces sets them apart from the other altars. The abstract landscapes have a fantastic quality to them, as though you're standing on the edge of a world.

Green Velvet Family

The final altar is a "family" of soft green velvet stomach-shaped sculptures. These forms hang from a black cable, but their relationship to it is quite different from the other altars. Their location is flexible as they slide along the cable. The sense of isolation created in the earlier pieces has been changed to a feeling of connectedness. The multiple lines arc upward to a single point and the forms relate to each other organically.