C | O | N | T | I | N | U | U | M : Interrupted Conversations
O'Sullivan Gallery at Regis University - June 2011, Oak Room Gallery at University of Northern Colorado - November 2011, and Ice Cube Gallery - February 2012.
Handmade paper, wire, beeswax, powdered pigment, graphite, ink, light
In April 2009 I gave birth to my son – a joyous transformative experience, in so many ways. Then, two years later in January 2011, my mother died in a Scuba diving accident. Another transformative experience – but one of overwhelming grief and loss. Six months later I presented the installation C | O | N | T | I | N | U | U | M : Interrupted Conversations at the O’Sullivan Gallery at Regis University, which served to both celebrate my son (and my own motherhood) and mourn the loss of my mother; its creation was an integral part of my grieving process. The centerpiece of the work is a paper cast taken from a mold of my pregnant torso – the “Mother” figure that houses a glowing sphere inside her belly. Other spheres (suggesting cells, bubbles, or perhaps planets) contain inaccessible scrolled messages – written conversations I wished I’d had with my mother.
The work presented specific references that simultaneously operate on a broader metaphoric level, addressing the continuity of the existence of the soul both with and without a body, and the scientific/spiritual conflict between what my rational mind believes based on scientific research, evidence and observation, that runs so contrary to what my heart knows must be true. The work was subsequently shown at the Oak Room Gallery at the University of Northern Colorado, and at Ice Cube Gallery in a group exhibition juried by Gwen Chanzit (Curator at the Denver Art Museum) early the following year.