Entombment
These forms are a reaction to the omnipresent fear brought forth by the pandemic: that those I love would die. As I carried an ominous sense of preemptive mourning, I needed a place to unburden this weight from my own physicality. These anonymous tombs are places for me to put my fear to rest. There are four pieces in this series. They represent my parents and paternal grandparents. The titles of the works are variations on the clauses “She Nourishes, He teaches; she quilted, he woodworked.” The clauses represent the ways these individuals show/ed love.
Across the forms, there are quietly present personal symbols hidden in the glazes and sometimes only revealed from certain angles – a nod to the way we intimately know family members in ways others cannot. The quilting fabric and cherry wood are in homage to my grandparents and the ways they showed care. The forms are weighted, heavy, and rooted to the ground. They are shaped like tombs, but their true importance is as a physical placeholder for emotions I might otherwise carry within my body.