Renewal
Renewal was painted in 2018, when my girls were very little. It was a sudden and seemingly random outpouring of inspiration, after years of dormant personal creativity. Looking back, I understand how this was not random, but a providential spark of something special — a renewal, of sorts — in my own journey as an artist.
Renewal (2018)
Acrylic and gold leaf on canvas.
In 2016, while I was in the throes of early motherhood, I came across the devastatingly inspiring work of composer William Basinski, entitled Disintegration Loops. It is his first response to what he saw from his loft in New York City on September 11, 2001. His composition incorporates video footage he took from his rooftop, of smoke billowing from the fallen towers at sunset, with music constructed from old disintegrating tapes he had found earlier that day. The work is both an elegy and a rebirth of sorts -- a timeless integration of the paralyzing reality of death, with life passing in real time.
Dwelling on Basinski's work made me question my own concept of loss, of life, and of beauty. I have often thought, Is there anything to be gained from reflecting on such devastation? Can something so horrible be redeemed? ...can any part of this pain ever be saved? But as I watched and listened, I began to realize that perhaps it is right in the messiest parts of our lives where the most beauty is waiting to be redeemed, to be repurposed.
The process of repurposing pain, or suffering, or guilt, or grief, or misdirection -- is much like Basinski's repurposing his tapes and footage. It signals the beginning of a transformation, from brokenness and chaos to a new whole, incorporating the old in a new light. The grit of our human experience then becomes the refraction point for new meaning -- for Truth and Peace.
Renewal now hangs in the home of dear friends in Mill Valley, CA. I think it is the perfect home for this work, because their lives are undeniably marked by the renewal which we all, to some extent, seek for ourselves and the world — and their way of living has visible ripple effects in the lives they touch. May we all have friends as kind and generous as these. May I be one.
One for you,
and one for a friend!
I make art that is made to share… It’s more fun that way!
It also helps me ensure that my art is sustainable and accessible to all.
If you’d like to take a piece of Renewal along on your own journey, or share it with a friend, pick up your own copy in the shop, and thank you!