In Biology of A Wall, the juxtaposition of the negative and positive attributes of a wall will eventually lead the viewer to a crack within the wall but also perhaps in parallel with their own psyche, symbolizing the long overdue, global piercing of the veil which blinds many of us to the liberation which lies inside. As Leonard Cohen writes, "The crack is how the light gets in..." Here, the crack represents the longing to transcend destructive barriers based upon cultural, racial, gender, religious, economic and social differences. By exposing everything, all biological facts and societal realities, we are presented with the choice to blow apart preconceived notions, to see through the veil, literally and figuratively, to allow the crack between conceptual polarities to fall away and illuminate a more comprehensive vision. Our bodies, our skin, our membranes hold back disease; They are vessels of embodied pleasure and pain, simultaneous containers of joy and sorrow, abundance and loss. Limitations are often seen as negative. However, in order to create, one needs a container: A canvas, the prose of a poem, the acoustic architecture of an opera house. Similarly, to live, one needs a vessel: the body and its endless protective layers and beneficial membranes. And to connect, one needs boundaries. Walls are all around us; It is our choice to create and maintain boundaries drawn with grace or to construct walls upon foundations of hate. We see and are seen.
The walls of our fragile bodies can be exposed, the chambers of our hearts opened.
The diseases around us, Covid 19 as well as the racism, sexism, classism
are forever mutating, causing us to examine our fears head on.
Rather than hide behind the walls of separation,
We can stand united,
with walls and without them.
As an artist, who employs a very labor-intensive process, like many I am typically accustomed to extended hours of time alone. Artists re-invent themselves through our practices; we strive to reach beyond current prevalent state of consciousness. It is often in our removal from society that allows us to examine patterns and trends, to reconstitute them in thought provoking manifestations. However, self-imposed isolation in spurts verses mandated ongoing isolation are vastly different. As our alone time is usually punctuated by interactions with the public and others, we dance back and forth between apart and together. During a pandemic, it seems that a greater emphasis/significance is placed on our need for connection with others. We create to express our humanness but then we have a need to find alternate ways to communicate/share that expression with others.