Art is Life/ Life is Art

One of my recent pieces that I feel the proudest of is a chair I bought at a thrift store, and made into a piece titled "I will Sit Here."

At our show at Moffitt (see previous post), we had artist statements posted on our labels by each piece, so that people could read about the inspiration and how all of the pieces relate to the Breastplates and Other Artful Armor theme.

Here is what I wrote for my artist statement about my chair:
I Will Sit Here
Mixed Media chair- wood, fabric, acrylic paint
Size: 23”W x 29-1/2” H x 19” D
"Before this chair was as it is now, it was just an ugly brown chair found at the Hospice thrift store, covered with dripping paint and green stretchy fabric cushions. It felt empowering to remove the ugliness, strip the old layers away, and add fresh paint and fabric, along with my writing.
I cannot purport to know what it is like to struggle with cancer myself, but I imagined myself there, using my own thoughts from past hardships, my conversations with those I know who have survived breast cancer, and what I have read and taken into my own consciousness. I hope to honor those who have experienced the struggle."

The chair has been painted with acrylic paints and covered with a poem that I wrote titled "I WIll Sit Here:"

I wll sit here and this chair will support me.
It will support me on good days and bad days
And will remain unchanged, though I am forever changed by my circumstances.

I can grieve for the loss of peace, as I wait for illness to pass and answers to tests. I can be sad.

I can grieve for the loss of peace as I anticipate surgery. I can be strong.

I can sit here and meditate on my blessings.
I can bring those who love me close into myself- into my very spirit,
As I hug them to my heart
And am supported
As I Sit Here.

My life and the lives of others will continue.

This disease cannot steal my soul from me.

I can still love, inspire, do what I am able to do'in each moment that I am able to do it.

And this chair will support me.

I will survive.