12” x 12”
Linoblock print on paper
This ‘One’s for the Gays’ is an image I’ve made in honor of the many additional complexities and challenges experienced by the queer and gay community in grief and death. As in life, so too in death, this community must bear denial of basic human rights, lack of recognition for their primary relationships in both legal regards and within family units, causing additional and deepened loss, isolation, despair and disrespect during a time we should all be revered and honored and held in loving kindness for our passage through this world in each of our own unique perfect iterations of being.
8” x 10”
Linoblck print on paper
‘Sweet Grief’ is the first in my series of skeleton prints. As I began to dive deeper and deeper into grief support work in my community and within myself, this image arose in my mind and then sketched onto paper, carved and printed. She represents the tenderness and the ever-loving presence a loved one leaves with those who loved them while they were here. Greif is a natural, necessary and beautiful unifier in this world. It is not something one can outgrow with time, but it is something we grow bigger around as our lives continue to be lived. Your grief matters.
12” x 12”
Linoblock print on paper
‘Never Apart’ is an image which arose from my experience as a pediatric death doula and represents the love of a mother whose child has died. It also represents the countless and unimaginably heartbreaking number of choices a parent has to make when they care for a child who has a terminal illness. These parents suffer anticipatory grief throughout the duration of that illness which can last many months to many many years. The grace with which these parents move through their broken world is where I have found myself most in reverence and awe of the capacities of the heart of a mother.
15” x 12”
Linoblock print on paper
‘Autumn Death’ is the second image I created in the skeleton series, following ‘Sweet Grief’. As a practitioner and teacher of Buddhism, I frequently contemplate the concept of impermanence, Anicca. Contemplating my own mortality and that of my loved one’s and of all living forms, I am able to gain perspective and live through my most deeply seated values on a daily basis. ‘Autumn Death’ is meant to remind us of how natural and how true it is that we will die. Our flame will blow out in the wind and our energy will swirl away into something new. Death and birth. Ending and renewal. This is the great force of the vast and eternal life of which we are but a tiny particle, a blink of an eye. May this practice of death contemplation inspire you to live fully and with great joy and compassion.
12” x 12”
Linoblock print on paper
‘Marigold’ is in honor of the grief experienced by children who have endured the death of a loved one. In particular, a parent or sibling. Sadly, the fact that children experience devastating loss and grief is something that has been universally swept under the rug. The Marigold flower is a symbol of death, grief and loss in many cultures. I use the flowers in this image to represent the abundant life energy that I witness in grieving children during my time spent with them as a peer grief support facilitator. The standing skeleton with their hands on the dying/deceased represents and honors the caring and compassionate humans who choose to hold loving space for grief, death and the suffering we all endure on this journey.
10” x 8” Linoblock print on paper
‘Pure Love’ is in honor of the deep love felt between dogs and their human companions. I was imagining the person who died wanting to come back just for an hour to curl up in bed with their bereaved dogs. Sometimes a pet is the one being a person truly and completely feels unconditionally loved by and what a beautiful gift that is. This image is also in honor of the grief and heartbreak felt by dogs when their companions die.
8” x 10” Linoleum block on paper
‘Water Baby’ is in honor of miscarriage, abortion, stillbirths and baby deaths. I was very touched to learn about the Buddhist Water Baby ceremony which gives an opportunity for ritual practices where loved ones are able to express their love and grief for babies who’ve died. My personal experience of miscarriage grief, and that of so many others I’ve heard from, is so very lonely and isolated as this type of death is almost completely discounted by society. I hope that ‘Water Baby’ helps people feel, honor and share stories of the grief they feel around the death of their baby or babies.