The Departing Year

Since my father’s illness and subsequent death a year
ago, I’ve been drawn to the concept of the soul
departing the body, of our ephemeral nature in the
larger scheme of the universe, and how our physical
bodies take on their own unique texture and patina with
age and suffering. 

Through the study of Wabi-sabi, the Japanese aesthetic
and worldview centered around the acceptance of
transience and imperfection, I found a peace in my loss
and an appreciation in the stripes life marks our
existence with; a beauty in brokenness, the acceptance
of the cycle of life and death.

I represent this impermanence through organic vessels,
misshapen and torn - accepting the beautiful folds,
breaks, and deformations that occur as they are formed. 
They are the color of bone, bleached and raw.
The natural openings that occur are dramatic and
purposeful, exit paths recording the soul’s release.