Grounded

Abstract

As an alcoholic and addict my life depends on making healthy choices and participating in activities that support my well-being. Writing a daily three-page letter to a Higher Power and reading it to a sponsor is one of the disciplines I practice. The writing gives me a safe space to constructively explore and see what is blocking me from living life fully. Upon entering graduate school, although initially resistant and fearful, I made the decision to completely engage in Tim Ingold’s theory of Thinking through Making and the Surrealist’s technique of automatism to begin a whole new way of working. This new creative process required that I play, be present, and let go of preconceived ideas and outcomes. During the fabrication of this work, I realized that Thinking through Making and automatism are directly related to the daily writing as well as the principles I am learning to live by in a 12-Step program. As I walked through fears and made new exciting discoveries through making, I became certain that the writing had opened me up to accept this new way of working more readily.

Writing, coupled with a new approach to making led to a transformation in the artwork and in me. The result of that radical shift in methodologies was the creation of a sculptural installation made by hand through experiments with handmade paper, crochet, knitting, netting, and stitching with materials found or discarded from nature, the trash or from second-hand sources. The unanticipated product of this new way of working was the creation of an environment that afforded me the opportunity to reflect on the grace and good fortune that has moved me into a life where I am grounded and aware of the beauty that surrounds me.