SAMSARA
When someone close to me contemplated ending their life, I began to assess my own relationship with death. Through those explorations, both personal and in research of other cultures, I recognized my lifelong fascination with the beauty of mortality.
How can we create a culture around grief that is vulnerable yet brave? That question played in my mind as I created these images, each an exploration into how we grieve and how we view our own mortality. Samsara asks the viewer to question their feelings about death and grief through a mixture of beautiful and dark imagery. Sculptural, grotesque, figurative, and conceptual, this body of work look at death from all angles.
Samsara creates a rich, uncomfortable, and open space to dissect how we internalize grief, and how other cultures practice rituals surrounding death. Importantly, it brings a closeness to mortality that allows us to examine our own ephemerality. Many images came from inspirations around the world during research of how grief manifests based on culture, location, and spiritual beliefs. From a glass hearse in India to sky burials in Tibet, remnants of diverse inspiration can be found in the pieces.
Along with the 29 framed original mixed media works (photograph, acrylic, sand, dirt, hair), Samsara features sculptural elements. A life-size sculpture of a woman lying in dirt and covered in moss rests in a corner. Blackbirds made of old tire pieces hang from the ceiling. A small book of redacted eulogies serves as short poems about grief. Finally, I commissioned four music artists to create an audio experience of Samsara to enhance the experience.
This exhibition is not intended to be merely looked at; it is created with the viewer as a participant. Death and grief, especially in western culture, are lonely and isolating experiences. Samsara aims to destigmatize grief to create a community experience around the topic.
How can we create a culture around grief that is vulnerable yet brave? That question played in my mind as I created these images, each an exploration into how we grieve and how we view our own mortality. Samsara asks the viewer to question their feelings about death and grief through a mixture of beautiful and dark imagery. Sculptural, grotesque, figurative, and conceptual, this body of work look at death from all angles.
Samsara creates a rich, uncomfortable, and open space to dissect how we internalize grief, and how other cultures practice rituals surrounding death. Importantly, it brings a closeness to mortality that allows us to examine our own ephemerality. Many images came from inspirations around the world during research of how grief manifests based on culture, location, and spiritual beliefs. From a glass hearse in India to sky burials in Tibet, remnants of diverse inspiration can be found in the pieces.
Along with the 29 framed original mixed media works (photograph, acrylic, sand, dirt, hair), Samsara features sculptural elements. A life-size sculpture of a woman lying in dirt and covered in moss rests in a corner. Blackbirds made of old tire pieces hang from the ceiling. A small book of redacted eulogies serves as short poems about grief. Finally, I commissioned four music artists to create an audio experience of Samsara to enhance the experience.
This exhibition is not intended to be merely looked at; it is created with the viewer as a participant. Death and grief, especially in western culture, are lonely and isolating experiences. Samsara aims to destigmatize grief to create a community experience around the topic.