The Heart Locker Installation
Living in such extraordinary beauty here in Joshua Tree, reminds me daily of our collective responsibility to steward the earth for future generations. These “broken hearts” spilled from mine, fractured daily by accounts of rising seas, melting glaciers, heat waves, wild fires, and species gone extinct – forecasts of a planet destroyed by greed and willful ignorance. My heart breaks, confronted with the knowledge that we might be too late.
I grieve for my grandchildren who will suffer the effects of a climate catastrophe, and I grieve for those already suffering. We must protect the right to a clean, safe and healthy environment that ensures a livable future where we do not just survive, but flourish.
I connect with my deepest self through my relationship with the natural world. The Earth’s beauty nourishes my soul and inspires my art. Because it is rooted in my love of the Earth, it was my art that I turned to as an instrument to channel my pain. The “Heart Locker gives form to my love for the Earth, my grief over the damage we have done, and my hope for the future.
I grieve for my grandchildren who will suffer the effects of a climate catastrophe, and I grieve for those already suffering. We must protect the right to a clean, safe and healthy environment that ensures a livable future where we do not just survive, but flourish.
I connect with my deepest self through my relationship with the natural world. The Earth’s beauty nourishes my soul and inspires my art. Because it is rooted in my love of the Earth, it was my art that I turned to as an instrument to channel my pain. The “Heart Locker gives form to my love for the Earth, my grief over the damage we have done, and my hope for the future.
The Heart Locker Installation consists of a series of 40 “broken hearts” carved from manzanita root, hung on butcher hooks in a 10’ x 20’ space which I have constructed on our land to the southwest of my studio. The experiential nature of the installation was heightened by an invitation for viewers to share their own heartbreaks in chalk on the black exterior of the installation.
The Heart Locker was first shown during the 2019 Highway 62 Open Studio Tours hwy62arttours.org/ .
A video of the installation is on YouTube youtu.be/T5B-Jx3F06k . For those of you who didn’t see it in person during the 2019 Hwy 62 Open Studio Tours this October, this will give you a good idea of the work. The videographer, Andreas Wood, did a beautiful job capturing the essence of what I was trying to communicate with the installation.
The Heart Locker was first shown during the 2019 Highway 62 Open Studio Tours hwy62arttours.org/ .
A video of the installation is on YouTube youtu.be/T5B-Jx3F06k . For those of you who didn’t see it in person during the 2019 Hwy 62 Open Studio Tours this October, this will give you a good idea of the work. The videographer, Andreas Wood, did a beautiful job capturing the essence of what I was trying to communicate with the installation.
Click to view larger image. Go to GALLERY for more photos of the “Hearts”
