Taylor Whigham

Installation, Performance

water, recycled cotton bedsheets, indigo dye, cotton thread, raw local wool, porcelain, raw stoneware, glazed stoneware, handblown glass, float glass, solder, cork, wax, yarn, recorded audio

 

this is the work of tending; it is all i can do. is a ceremonial environment dedicated to acknowledging the sacred necessity of grief within the larger concepts of wellbeing and interconnectedness. By understanding grief as the everyday loss found in life’s constant changes, the more profound losses of beloved beings, and the intergenerational pain of unresolved injustice, we can turn our attention towards the hurts that need recognition and care to flow out of our lives. By understanding ceremony as a mode of collective intention-setting, we can come together in making these pains more bearable for all of us and speeding up their healing. Water comes into this ceremonial space bearing its naturally given role as a cleanser, a changemaker. Looking to the relationship between water and the moon, we can find a home for our softest parts, our emotions, their tide-like ebb and flow.

 

Craft, making, and diligent effort are essential elements in the creation of this environment. I have found months of physical, mental, and spiritual solace in the process of tending to each element, embracing the time and effort that each material needs to come into the space harmoniously. Now, we are all welcome to enjoy the fruits of this by getting comfortable with cushions and tea, enjoying the leisurely company of others, and reflecting on how we have come to meet at this particular time and place. What does it mean that each of our choices have led us to this ceremonial here and now?