Words are often the first threshold I cross when considering a new body of work. Starting from where I found myself; grateful to be in mid-life, (mostly) joyful, with kids, a good job- and yet wrestling, too with commonplace, mid-life fears, doubts- life’s ordinary responsibilities and obligations; the word “bound” in all its permutations, spoke to me:
To be firmly determined, resolved, to intend to go, or to move by leaping.
Something secured in place.
To be tied to; as in duty- bound.
Very likely, certain, expected to….as in, it’s bound to happen.
A point or line beyond which a person or thing cannot go.
To be both going somewhere as well as tied to one place…?.
I spend a good deal of my time trying to make meaningful objects with my hands. It is what I have dedicated my adulthood to and it is why- ultimately- I ended up living in Baton Rouge. Much in the way a plumber fixes a sink or my daughter’s teacher explains fractions, creating is one facet of how I contribute to this community. “Bound” stemmed from a simple desire to give of what I know and value, as much acknowledgment and appreciation for what others do and bring.
Over the past several months I have made 120 ceramic bows. Kathryn Hunter, the owner of Baton Rouge's Blackbird Letterpress donated the colorful tags. On a small group of tags I wrote a message to a variety of people (some I know, some I don’t) whose contributions to Baton Rouge I have admired, valued and appreciated. In turn, I provided each recipient additional tag’s to pass on to others in the same spirit. All tagged recipients got to choose one bow as a gift to take home at the end of the show.
Colored ribbons serve as symbols within our culture, visual reminders of what people support, value or believe in. This project embraces that idea, my hope is to create a veritable constellation around our community- one suggesting the many ways in which we all are, or can be – bound.
After the opening night, all untagged bows are available (BRG staff has tags) for a $30.00 donation, 100% of which goes to support Baton Rouge Gallery.