Vessels

There is a reason grief wears a veil: we do not wish to see a face that reminds us of the things we stand to lose. The word mourning describes the veiled, contained grief we most often see in traditional funeral art; an urn, half-draped in cloth, a downcast angel. But true, brute sadness is not picturesque in this way. It is angry and confused, even ugly. When art functions as a vessel for such an emotion, the vessel often breaks, and a real figment of feeling lashes out at the viewer, exceeding the boundaries of representation. Misery and injustice in all forms have always, will always, haunt human existence. But in times of collective suffering, cracking that vessel of mourning, lifting the veil on grief, can be an opportunity for mutual understanding. Vessels is a test to this hypothesis; an invitation to see loss not only as an outcome, but also a point of departure.