What totem, what symbol, what spirit of grace might show up at the table today?
Another provocative and well-timed prompt by Acey at the midpoint of Collage Month.*
I was flummoxed — which seemed like a version of an old script that says, ‘I have no support, no bolstering grace.’ The potential (provable) fallacy of such a view kicked up a healthy skepticism. I went off and cleaned the upstairs.
Autocorrect changed the parenthetical word above from “probable” to “provable.” The substituted sense is stronger and I will be collecting proofs of bolstering grace going forward.
Later, shifting papers around, it came to me that my totem had already shown up. Repeatedly.
It’s that silhouette. He is part ghost, part Jedi Master, part Arab (as signifier of the larger world). He looks backwards but moves forward. He shows up anywhere and everywhere. He is witness but also, IN and OF every landscape.
The figure holds mystery. How do I even know their gender?
I consciously put strips of paper in a couple of these compositions that reference language and textiles, two areas of pursuit in my life that might be considered redemptive.
The messier assemblage below points to issues of American history and racism, since those things often arise when making collages as well.
The boat etching could have come straight out of The 1619 Project: a scene of bodies being moved to a colony as chattel. Or perhaps these paddlers are already on some planter’s inventory and move merchandise from ship to shore. The gold paper scraps represent the vast sums of wealth generated on the backs of black bodies. The big bones overhanging — weighty, limiting, obscuring of the sky — represent structural racism. Lasting, like bones. Hidden, like bones. The tri-part composition seems to graphically reference the “wealth gap.”
Finally, I also came upon the photo below — an arrangement of pieced/loose sections laid out while studying the Middle Passage. The pieces never got assembled, making the picture the only incarnation of that particular thought.
*
For info on this collage project see Acey’s blog
For more SoulCollage cards of mine, go to Flickr on sidebar and open the SoulCollage album. Or, track the ‘SoulCollage’ and ‘collage’ tags here on the blog.
The ‘slavery’ tag will take you to several years of thoughts about both history and my relationship to it.
Also: The New York Times published The 1619 Project, but I didn’t link to them because of their firewall. If you subscribe, go there first. The NYTimes podcast The Daily, put out several Saturday episodes expanding on the topic which were moving and informative.
Originator of the project: Nikole Hannah-Jones @nhannahjones (on Instagram). There’s also a hashtag: #1619project.
The light was beautiful for Finn’s and my second walk and it defied capture. We made the long loop at three instead of at nine because it was raining this morning. Also, it’s supposed to be in the teens tomorrow with 30-40 mph winds and we might not want to venture far.
The wires caught the sunlight, making them jewel-like. Two banks of clouds in the distance sandwiched intense light.
Now I’ve got one heating pad on my lower back and one on my hips. I’m glad that K is due to arrive at Logan soon so that he and Finn can galavant together this weekend. I’m pooped. It was China AND Korea this time and he closed another deal.
As for Collage Month, I can tell you that I am very attached to the spooky silhouettes, the gorgeous dancers, and the references to flight made by wings, skateboarders, and that girl running up the steps.
Less enthralled with references to sight and vision. Tore out the drawing. The stitched bookcase. All clunky and obvious.
In every case, I prefer the digital rendering to the actual collage. Except maybe for the two below.
This morning I paired a beautiful profile of Prince with some Chinese round art, positioned like haloes. I want to find a place for him.
I have trouble remembering the prompts from Acey’s posts even after re-reading them. That’s a tell that I’m being challenged.
The above collage was one response. Support for my writing, structure, a feedback loop of encouragement, praise, even. Success would be nice!
But the first thing that came to mind is how badly I want this world to have a future. That’s what those three polar bears symbolize: us having a future.
Ram Dass’s recent passing reminded me of a time I heard him speak at Omega Institute. He shared the stage with Marilyn Ferguson, who called herself a visionary Christian. The topic was the sustainability of human life. She advocated for passionate engagement to ensure our survival (and this was in the 80’s!). But Ram Dass sat there so alive, so fully in himself and asked, “why should I be invested in our survival? In one result over another?”
This is what I came up with just now. Think: surrender and trust. The background looks like a world-sized globe but actually depicts teeny creatures. So — I’ll take the collage to mean I want surrender and trust personally as well as on a world-wide scale.
Except that I just made these collages as well. More on them later. I had “care package” in mind making them. Took the stamps off a literal package that came yesterday (thank you, Michelle!!)
Sorry if I am not caught up on others’ blogs. I feel stretched right now. But know that I’m loving seeing everyone’s’ creations and finding Acey’s prompts more than stimulating!
You might not know how much of my psyche is wrapped up with wondering what it’s like to become an adult right now, particularly as a man.
Example: the SoulCollage card above. There are LOTS of examples.
I glued a lot of paper into the book after dinner tonight, slitting compositions in half or thirds to fit on the page where need be. This will allow me to use remnants to create unifying repetitions.