Death & Permanence (2007)

The idea or possibility of death applies value to the experience of life. When considering the relationship between death and permanence, permanence becomes a dualistic body. To divide the concept of this relationship further, I see two distinct parts of permanence that are both complimenting and contrasting of one another: death is the permanent end to a transitory life. Death brings a feeling of forever while simultaneously reminding me that each moment is fleeting. Nothing has made me feel quite so alive as the immediate moments following the death of another.

Death & Permanence Revisited (2012)

The aforementioned statement was written 5 years ago shortly after the unexpected and rather gruesome death of my father. It was not the first time I experienced the loss of a loved one, but certainly the death that had the most profound affect on me.

The original piece I created: four simple deer hides, tattooed and branded. I created all of my own tools in a very primitive fashion and went to work repeatedly puncturing and burning skin. The work itself was a cathartic process piece, and the final result, the visual offspring of a deeply personal transference. It also won a few awards…but never mind about that.

Now, five years later I have gone back to that personal space as a newer “version” of myself and revisited the product of that work. I have taken the same four hides and applied my current perceptions and ideas surrounding Death and Permanence. Perhaps they are less about the “ideas” and more about the aesthetic rebirth and my visual relationship with my past…changing and creating, emerging and responding.

While my philosophy regarding Death and Permanence remains the same, these pieces are newer, fresher and separate. These four pieces act as derivatives of a single body…each of them acting as it’s own unique facet of thought.

"You can’t catch a wave in a bucket and walk off with it…" - Alan Watts