Sunday, December 23, 2012

the smell of a place

The car turns on a wavy road through the mountains, trees outside, the breezy cool wind blows in from the open window over her face, road signs pass behind, clouds dance over this curly movement of the car, the road, the wind, the view, and the silence.  It is dreamy, relaxing, safe in a car with parents, destination is back to home, or to the grandparents' home. This is the moment that probably establishes a lot of things for an 8 year old girl: love of nature, meditative moments with nature, sense of belonging, meaning of family in its healthy way, privacy and union with one's mind and thoughts, silence as a healthy and mind opening practice, integrity of the moment, being that moment.

30 years later, in far far lands, far away from all of that, a dreamy curly beautiful road, brings back that very moment from way back in time..... the girl is older, has not thought about that trip in decades, she has gone through losing those parents, has moved away, has grown older and perhaps wiser, things are no longer "ahead" for her to reach, she should have already reached them and if not, it is probably too late for a lot of them..... She is in the back seat of another car. Things are different.  A lot does not exist anymore. A lot is so foreign, so unfamiliar, that it becomes moot to even try to make it familiar   She smells that breeze from 30 years ago. Feels that exact feeling of that moment 30 years ago. It makes her happy, as being in a sci-fi movie, a flash back or going back in time, or time coming forward.  She can smell exactly what her grandparents' home smelled. The smell of nostalgia. Is memory even capable of recording a smell?



Tuesday, May 15, 2012

i left a piece of myself in



"I Left a Piece of Myself In"
wood frame made to size of first artist, birdcage, shadow, words, feelings, secrets.






in collaboration with Brett Callaway :: 
Installation at the group show "I CAN DO THAT" :: Curated by Jenny Lam :: Variable Space :: Wicker Park :: Chicago :: April 2012


Burning Man Temple September 2015