SotoldCreative 

My Head House is a map of my mind; a fantastical imagining of childhood fantasies and dark corners which utilizes ‘archival scrap’ glass from past projects, as well as glass and antiquities found in the Delaware River, to challenge linear conceptualizations of time and draw attention to the cumulative nature of existence. 

My Head House was (is) a loving confrontation of who I’ve been before and where I have come from in order to arrive here, now. My Head House is shadow work. The journey of this piece from inception to completion is an on-going healing meditation that enables me to love all of the parts of myself: parts and pieces I may have discarded before as ‘scrap’, unwanted, or not pretty.

At the start of Fall I was beginning to feel a bit ungrounded - I had lost touch with my self and wanted to refocus my energy on what serves me best. I wanted to call in energy, motivation, vibrancy, and pleasure-seeking to counteract the lethargy and apathy I was experiencing. However, I felt that vibrancy needed to be grounded (rooted) in order to be effective. 

The Cloud: A cohort of creatures born of a forever- emergent collective experience.

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Although originally these cicadas were treated as individual pieces of work, It felt as if the cicadas revealed to me that they were meant to be created in community and come into arrangement alongside one another before their release into the world.

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In the midst of an unfolding collective pandemic experience, it was It was powerful to honor the collective experience of witnessing the BroodX cicadas emerge from their hibernation. 

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I wonder, what other collective experiences are unfolding and how can we choose to be unified as opposed to divided throughout these collective experiences?

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Spirit Ladder is a transcendental mapping of spiritual growth: an ethereal interpretation of the Chutes and Ladders of life. A channel of expansion and upward ascension (denoted by antique salt dishes which speak to the flavor of life and purity of the soul) is situated amongst a bustling grid of multi-directional pathways. Holes, curves, foreign and natural objects intersect rigid gridlines, inviting perpetual motion without clear direction. However ‘direction-less’ these ‘alternate’ pathways may be, they are beautiful. 

A key element of my own spiritual and artistic growth has been letting go of fear. Although I had known for some time that it was important for me to incorporate found objects in my work, I cultivated a fear of actualizing this artistic calling. The Fear of ‘messing up’, thereby dishonoring the life of said found objects, accompanied by the hard work and extra attention to detail required in order to skillfully solder irregular shapes and items into panels, kept me from trying for years.  

Spirit Ladder is the first piece in which I incorporate found objects and antiquities - putting into motion my artistic liberation, and irrevocably shaping all of my work moving forward. Spirit Ladder is very much an energetic embodiment of letting go of fear and surrendering to the journey of life and living, while finding beauty on whichever rung of life one may find themself.

As above, so below. 

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While designing this piece I was overwhelmed with how close our past and futures are to us. When the veil between our mortal world and the spiritual plane is thinnest, it feels like you can reach out and touch memories that have passed and those lying in wait.

All that has happened and all that we can create meet in a single fleeting moment of awareness.

The more I practice presence, I am able to feel the undeniable connections between past and future, physical and spiritual, right and wrong, you and me.

The pathways of connectedness are there, waiting to be traveled. All we have to do is ✨tap in✨

I tried to capture these pathways in this piece, and am incredibly humbled by each of you who have resonated with this design ✨

I also had some fun breaking out of my typical color palettes.

Who are you listening to?

Who are you tuning out?

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When I sat down to solder this piece, a zillion terrible thoughts flooded my mind. I took a few moments to journal - pencil sounds and big letters always calm me down- and all of a sudden I found myself writing left handed (I am right -hand dominant).

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Using my left hand demanded focus and patience...and It required I let go of the zillion thoughts flowing into my mind.

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And so, this piece was soldered left handed, as a practice of presence. No muscle memory to carry me forward, each movement was brand new.