Made completely from recycled glass and crystal vessels found in second hand shops and thrift stores, these sculptures represent and speak to the processes of reclamation, restoration and what in Hebrew is called tikkun olam, literally “repair of the world”, but also understood as “construction for eternity”.  The idea is deeply embedded in the mystical traditions of the Kabbalah. As understood by Jewish sages, the universe is a series of vessels made by God to house the sacred radiance. But at the moment of creation, the light was so powerful that these cosmic vessels were unable to contain it and so they shattered. Thus it is the job of good people everywhere to heal the world through acts of kindness, to gather the fragments and restore wholeness to house the sacred light.

The process of creating this work began just over six months ago when having moved to a rural farm in Oregon my husband invited me to collaborate on some of his elaborate “crystal towers”. My own pared down aesthetic began to influence his choices, and his love of ornament mine. With his encouragement I began to make my own pieces and was astonished to realize that the finished products resembled drawings for ethereal objects that I had been making in my notebooks for over forty years. It was as if this new medium had finally allowed me to embody all sorts of ideas and wishes that had been percolating inside of me for decades.

Having lived with HIV for over 30 years and having lost hundreds of people to the disease, much of my work relates to living with the memories of a lost population and the void left by their untimely deaths. In the Orphic sects of ancient Greece there was a magical practice called telestike in which a worshipper would call down a god or spirit to inhabit a statue. The idea of this practice resonated with me. These transparent vessels of glass with their many layers are filled with light and the images of the world that they reflect.  When I make these pieces and when I sit with them I feel centered and calm. Like the ancient practitioner of telestike, I have the experience of creating something to house a powerful force. These objects act as vessels to hold natural light as well as spiritual light.