tethered

“Attention is the beginning of devotion.” Mary Oliver

When our sweet pup, Captain, died suddenly during the pandemic, I found myself starting to sew together her toys. There was something about the act of sewing and creating new creatures from old that felt connective to me...like she and I were still playing. I began to draw from multiple views of these sewn sculptures, honoring the loss of her by working with the beautiful remnants of what she left behind.

Working on layers of translucent vellum, they started to evoke a sense of time and memory. What fades from view in the layering process is a metaphor for letting go. The original vellum pieces became an image generator for prints and larger pieces done in Flashe paint on paper. Ultimately, dozens of vellum pieces were inspired by Captain's toys. These were part of a month-long daily creative practice which kept me "tethered" to some sort of hope in the face of loss.

Exploring generative motifs, layering, repeating, reconfiguring continues to reveal new avenues in my work. Through the ritual act of making a related series of images, there is a constant conversation between them. A series of related pieces begins, over time, to have its own logic and momentum. My truest work unfolds and teaches me what it wants to be when I pay attention to the beautiful remnants of my life.

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