softening grief | glass mosaic on 4×4" wood panels | 2024

This whole piece plays with duality. Opaque, translucent, and transparent forms congregate and huddle around one another. The pale and muted pinks promise me softness and comfort whereas the dark purples invite me into mystery, the unknown and uncertain. The grout envelops every shard of glass, reinforcing separation yet binding them together. The glass has sharp edges and smooth surfaces; the reflective nature of these hardened, solid pieces resembles flowing, fluid water.

I made this piece intuitively. I didn’t sit down and say hmmm, I want to make a piece about the dualities of grief. Instead, I approached the bins of colored glass with openness and curiosity and listened to the pieces that called for me. I brought them back to the worktable and allowed the magic of assemblance to occur. I’m used to working with paper collage in this way, so having my hands explore a new medium with different materials feels like learning a whole new language and it fills me with such delight.

Hardware installed, they are ready for display.