For Each Ecstatic Instant (2019)

Kentler Gallery, Brooklyn

c. 12 ft. x 20 ft x 6 ft

The title of this installation refers to a poem by Emily Dickinson. The poem reflects the dualities of joy and pain and felt reflective of this installation.
The installation creates a contemplative space to consider the iconography of American death rituals. It adds a feminist commentary to the visuals of typical death iconography.
I made a collograph of a rubbing of one of my ancestor's gravestones, a common image from New England in the early 1800's. This 9 x 9 foot drawing covered the rear wall of the gallery. To the right I added a paper banner of all the first names of my female ancestors, who were usually only noted as "wife of" or "daughter of" on their gravestones. To the left I added a rainstorm made of glass crystals, both beautiful and annoying, and symbolic of the passing of time and natural cycles.