About this piece

Throughout history, women have been relegated to the back in places of worship, their voices silenced and their physical presence minimized as much as possible. In Red Totem. iconography from various religions and time periods are layered to form a structure in which the feminine takes center stage.

Red Totem is an exploration in uniting all our forms of worship, our need for community and tribe. A tribute to collaboration and interdependence. As I layered and composed the elements in this piece, I noticed the suggestion of a face in the center. I placed 2 crystal elements into what looked like the suggestion of eye sockets. That familiar rush of recognition and wondrous surprise. What a drug. A masculine deity emerged from the joining of an ancient carving with the more modern Christian robes of another I’d placed beneath it. Had he been there all along? Staring out with his wise old eyes, hiding in the recesses of my mind, waiting for all the physical elements to be aligned in the right way so that he could make his presence known?

 In my breathwork sessions, I often myself sobbing. I don’t always understand what I’m crying about, but I always feel so much better after I’ve released whatever I need to let go of. It is socially acceptable for women to cry, but we rarely extend the same permission and encouragement to men and boys. In this animation, the male god cries, the central female figure levitates, and when she clicks perfectly into place, aligning with her ancestral roots, the energetic activation of healing is initiated. In the animation, she rises into a place of prominence and respect. When she assumes her rightful place, the piece activates and the full energy is unleashed.