paper light shadows
Grief is a universal reality, yet it is a unique process for each individual who experiences it. The engulfing, overpowering nature of grief has led all cultures to create costumes, rituals, pageantry, and ceremonies in attempts to understand and give meaning to death.
Although grieving is an extremely personal process, each culture, religion, and community has their own traditions and social rules about what we are supposed to do and how we are supposed to behave when faced with the loss of a loved one. Some of the key questions we will be contemplating are: Do we find comfort in these rules and traditions or feel restricted by them? How do we grieve publicly and privately? If one could build a memorial / cemetery / altar for their loved one, based solely on their imagination, what would it look like?
We are interested in looking at the ways in which the bereaved give meaning to death with the use of symbols. Inspired by costumes, rituals, pageantry and ceremony, The Grief Conservatory houses hybrid expressions of grief in the form of intricate paper cut-outs projected on the gallery walls using custom LED lights. A number of these lights are mobile and allow the audience to walk around animating the shadows in their own way.
This installation was created for Spectral , Museum of London, Ontario. October 8 2022 - January 15 2023
Photo Credit : Ahmet Dervish