In recent years the symbolic meanings overlying the human body have occupied my thoughts. The heart has become central to my process as first parents, then siblings, and now friends have suffered from the effects of the diseased heart. The search for the healthy heart feels the present day equivalent of the mythical quest for the Holy Grail.
The heart in me has the need to find solace in ritual and ceremony as a path to balance the mechanistic approach of modern medicine. While exploring the human figure in my art, I came to recognize the ritual surrounding the drinking and sharing of coffee each day. Cradling a cup in my hands, sharing my innermost thoughts and desires with a friend, I recognized the container as a symbol of the "open" human heart. A "Holy Grail." The desire to honor the process within translates to the elevation of the simple coffee cup to a ceremonial object, recognizing the ritual inherent in drinking coffee, whether alone or in community.
And so it continues....
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