Artist Statement
“From my rotting body, flowers shall grow, and I am in them, and that Is Eternity"
This is a piece I made in January 2021. I had been thinking a lot about death. It was unavoidable in a year where the word "death" is in every headline and the passing of a loved one had touched my life yet again. My whole life has been colored by grief from a young age, and I’ve been exploring my feelings around it through art for over a decade.
Here in America, our culture teaches us to fear the reaper. That death is cold and dark and hard. A silent secret we discuss in hushed tones. We shut the door to it, and in doing so we shut the door to healing and growth. It is heartbreaking when someone we love dies, but the fact remains - we all will. Why are we not better equipped to care for the dead and dying? Why are we not armed with the tools to work out our own feelings?
The conversation around dying and the death industry is changing - thank the #deathpositive movement for that. I believe the culture is changing with good reason. Why is something so inevitable and natural treated with such fear and disdain?
I think frequently about my own death. Not because I expect or desire it anytime soon, but because someday, it will happen. It is worth examining. It is natural to wonder about your eventual passing. I formed the idea for this piece as I thought about the quote at the beginning of this caption.
Someday I will return to this earth, and more life shall grow where I once took up space in the world. I find that the most comforting thought I could ever have about my own mortality.
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(As always - Francis, my skull, is fake. I do not believe in owning human remains).
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