I watched my dad as he slowly released all of his responsibilities. He let go of his role as the patriarch of the family and became a child of the universe.
The idea for this piece came to me months after my dad passed. It spent a lot of time in my head because I couldn't figure out the best way to accomplish this large wall relief. Or perhaps I just wasn't ready yet. I finally started actual work on this five months after I had envisioned this image. I had all nine squares laid out on my work table and with some good, loud, fast paced music on the radio my hands danced with the clay in a blur of motion! As the bird began to appear in the clay I saw my vision come to life and tears started rolling down my face dropping into the clay mixing with the image. For once I didn't stop them. I let them fall as I kept working. I let them fall after holding them in for ten months. I let go of the fear, and grief and anger and realized this wasn't just about my Dad's release it was about mine." |
