Sacred Materiality:
Channeling the Divine Through Nature

I look to the natural world for materials and guidance in my artmaking. As I walk through forests and empty lots, beaches, and riverbanks, I absorb the splendor of creation. All the life around me equally bathes in the sunlight and rain showers that we require, and I become immersed in the spirit that unites all life and the universe. Once gathered, I listen to the materials speaking about their connections to the sacred and follow their lead in creating works that I hope resonate with the spirituality in the viewer.

Inflamed

36"h (60” with tendrils) x 14"w x 6"d

Plastics are everywhere – in our water, our food, in the air we breathe. They stunt plant growth by inhibiting photosynthesis. Human ingestion of microplastics can lead to gastrointestinal issues and inflammation.

I worry about the challenge of connecting to the world of spirit by stressed organisms.

The more I learn about this, the more inflamed I become. How about you?
Materials: bittersweet vine, handmade paper, hemp yarn, corn husks, dandelion stems, cattail leaves, plastic produce mesh bags, bird seed bag

Techniques: manipulation, cord-making, papermaking, intertwining, drilling, knotting

Forest Bathing

Henry David Thoreau was a well-known proponent of the practice the Japanese call Shinrin-yoku, or Forest Bathing. In Walking he wrote,

“So we saunter toward the Holy Land, till one day the sun shall shine more brightly than ever he has done, shall perchance shine into our minds and hearts, and light up our whole lives with a great awakening light, as warm and serene and golden as on a bank-side in autumn.”

There are times when walking in the forest is not possible. With this installation you can imagine yourself immersed in the forest and feel its spirit wash over you.

75"h x 39"w x 25"d

Materials: willow, unryu paper, fusible web, hemp cord, thread, artificial sinew, bleach, ink

Techniques: basket weaving, fusing, cutting, stitching, distressing, tying

Drifting Flowers of the Sea

Sadakichi Hartmann

Across the dunes, in the waning light,
The rising moon pours her amber rays,
Through the slumbrous air of the dim, brown night
The pungent smell of the seaweed strays—
From vast and trackless spaces
Where wind and water meet,
White flowers, that rise from the sleepless deep,
Come drifting to my feet.
They flutter the shore in a drowsy tune,
Unfurl their bloom to the lightlorn sky,
Allow a caress to the rising moon,
Then fall to slumber, and fade, and die.

White flowers, a-bloom on the vagrant deep,
Like dreams of love, rising out of sleep,
You are the songs, I dreamt but never sung,
Pale hopes my thoughts alone have known,
Vain words ne’er uttered, though on the tongue,
That winds to the sibilant seas have blown.
In you, I see the everlasting drift of years
That will endure all sorrows, smiles and tears;
For when the bell of time will ring the doom
To all the follies of the human race,
You still will rise in fugitive bloom
And garland the shores of ruined space.

31"h x 14"w x 3.5"d

Materials: bittersweet vine, kozo fiber, kozo paper, linen and linen/paper yarns, artificial sinew

Techniques: papermaking, needlelace, crochet, lashing

Sanctuary No. 2 - Music Chamber

Imagine yourself at rest in the gently swinging hammock inside Sanctuary No. 2 – Music Chamber. You can hear the chimes clink softly in the breeze. The sprang roof is open to the sky, allowing the sight of blue skies, the music of singing birds, and the scent of the surrounding forest to nourish your spirit. You feel at one with the earth in your sanctuary made of the gifts of nature.
The walls and floor of Sanctuary No. 2: Music Chamber are made from music notes that I had made for a collaborative installation with fellow artist Laurie Bogdan for the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill. The installation featured a music staff with the notation for Bob Dylan’s Blowin’ in the Wind constructed of natural materials we had foraged for.

13.5"h x 11.5"w x 7.5" d

Spirit House - Air

This Spirit House can be many things:
a resting spot for the spirit, with the familiar elements providing orientation and sustenance;
a tool for meditation;
a reminder to see spirit in nature;
an invitation for the spirit world to inhabit the material world;
a point of departure for a journey into the world of spirit through the elemental portal that speaks to you in this moment

Materials: sticks, handmade paper, daylily cord, leaves, string, artificial sinew, bamboo, tapioca starch
Techniques: papermaking, knotted construction, looping, sewing, gluing

12.5" h x 12" w x 11" d

Sacred Materiality: Channeling the Divine Through Nature

New Work

Sacred Materiality:
Channeling the Divine Through Nature