The gods have always permiated my work and the the idea of divinity of the earth itself have long been a central theme there. So it’s seems very surprising that making magic with art was not something I started playing with until early in 2020. Some how the two ideas felt very separate, or maybe they just live in different parts of the brain. What ever the reason, it wasn’t until moving into my new house that the concept finally gelled.
The first manifestation of this idea was a performance piece that I did in collaboration with several of my dear friends; Travis Cleveland, Emilie Pomerleau, Bob Marsh, Jen de Groot, Alex Szyleyko, and Mat Taylor.
The piece was first conceived for a show I was invited to at the Museum of Friends in Walsenburg Colorado, the theme of the show being Earth. The museum director requested a new video, having seen and liked my older work. Though the show never happened, due to Covid 19, the ideas for the video continued to develop until the river blessing project was set in motion.
Using voice, gong, dance, clay, sculpture and clear intention, we set out to bless the water that sustains our city and our lives.
The first step was to gather clay for making horses, an old idea that I have been dreaming of for many years. Back when I was wholly focused on learning and living in the dharma, I came across the idea that horses were used as an offering by the ancient Chinese for blessing and cleansing water. making them from unfired clay taken from the river itself and then offering the sculptures back to the water was such a compelling idea for me that it followed me through several manifestations.
This blessing became the perfect time. This video is pieced together from the day the Emilie and Travis and I collected the clay.
Once we had the clay, I went back to the studio to prepare it for use.
While I had worked with this clay straight from the river a bit for small things, I hadn’t tried anything more complex than pinch pots. my vision of the horse build was not at all what I had anticipated and took several tries before we were able to make small, self supporting horses.
With that complete, all that was left was the performance itself. Every one on the team contributed to the quality and texture of the day, none of it would have been possible without the spirit of collaboration.
The day of I did this short performance as a way of clearing trapped energy and preparing for what might be next.
The day was amazing and the video in progress is one of the best things I’ve ever been a part of. Once we have it finished I’ll definitely post it here.