Sodzo 2007
In my series of plaster cadaver casts and human bones, I used organic objects as a form of indirect self-portraiture. The piece represents a personal dialogue I had with myself in response to an illness that affected my joints and muscles. Because the illness was stress related, much of the healing process involved altering the way I viewed and lived life. I had to look more carefully at things I once took for granted, to understand how what I did affected my health. This work was a kind of metaphor for that process. The word “Sodzo” for which the piece is named, is the Greek word meaning “to preserve”, and “to become whole”. The paintings are about knowing and seeing forms. More than that, they are about realizing truth and beauty, a stroke toward the preservation of life in the midst of all its complexities.