I believe that beauty is the balm for madness.

 

I actively seek escape and distraction from relentlessly terrifying news about the environment and human misdeeds, headlines like: U.N. REPORT WARNS 40% OF POLLINATORS FACE EXTINCTION, and, The sea ice area for the Arctic shows near-record minimums since 2002.”

 

In this mixed-media work, The Bollywood Series, I build myself talisman  - reminiscent of minkisi (spirit-inhabited African nail figures) - to protect and celebrate the power of beauty in the face of global insanity.

 

Rather than obsess over things I cannot control, I obsessively embellish the surfaces of the objects I build. I pound power into the wood using nails and brightly colored beads. I apply bee’s wax, gold leaf and color to balance the bleakness. I use beauty as a shield against the ugliness.