Quietus is a celebration of life while posing questions about our mortality. My professional life as an artist and end of life Doula and my ongoing artistic collaborations within the Bardo ∞ Project provide insight to this work. I am inspired by nature, surrealism, the black and white experimental films of Maya Deren and personal experiences with the dying process and death. I believe that by confronting our mortality we gain a sense of peace and live richer more connected and compassionate lives.

The Quietus series of assemblages on paper based on black & white infrared thermal (IRT) video stills from my experimental short films, revealing the invisible, the mysterious energy of life and death, the spirit world and transformation. The images are shot with extremely heat-sensitive imaging technology most often used for surveillance or search and rescue; heat appears white, and cold or wet areas are black. Thermography allows one to witness actual heat signatures unseen by the human eye. Visible light cameras read 400–700 nanometer range, infrared cameras see wavelengths up to 14,000 nm, measuring energy striking a surface. I use this eerie medium to reference the magic and fragility of human existence, and, ideas about our beginnings as part of the universe, that we are made of stars. The human body appears luminous, and conceptually I interpret the body as part of the spirit world.

“The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.” -Carl Sagan

The black and white video stills and photographs are printed on photo rag paper and embellished with pen, ink and watercolor in a limited palette of black, white, gray and metallics. Delicate metal leaf in 24 Karat gold, genuine silver, and copper allude to ancient and contemporary uses of precious metals in spiritual work, energy and body healing, and ritual.

The female body is featured prominently as primordial and futuristic Goddess or Witch characters. Both of my collaborators who appear in the imagery, artist Cara Griffin and photographer Pasha Rose, are dedicated yoga practitioners, thus informing their intuitive, intelligent movements in the IRT video footage that I derive the stills from. Self portraiture (the spewing waterfall goddess) from my ongoing ‘MLSP’ series is also used. The imagery was filmed over the past few years on Maui and Hawai’i Island. I was born in Honolulu, raised in Oregon, lived in New York City for many years, then returned to Portland, Oregon, thus to return to my natal islands to create this work completes a full circle -like the ancient symbol of the Ouroboros, a snake eating its own tail- representing the endless cycles of birth, life, death, rebirth.

As an End of Life Doula my role is to advocate for the emotional and spiritual needs of the dying and their loved ones to help them gain a sense of peace. My experience of “being at the veil” is to bear witness to a most moving and sublime physical, emotional and spiritual transformation of life leaving its vessel -perhaps becoming a new form of energy- which I believe is Love. This universal Love energy is inextinguishable, it is infinite. I ask that you pause to reflect on your own mortality and ask “how can I live more fully in this moment?” Be kind to your vessel so that it may serve you well. I wish you a peaceful life, and, a peaceful exit, and perhaps, many returns.

The first exhibition of Quietus and workshops was made possible in part by a 2021 UMEZ Arts Engagement grant administered by the LMCC. Additional support by: Materials for the Arts, NP Acute Care Group of NY, Reimagine and SodaWERKS. Special Thanks: Cara Griffin, Grupo Tolteca Chichimeca NY, Jean Chapiro, Bruce Conkle, Kipaipai, Joanne Leah, Connie Lee, Rayographix Fine Art Printing, my Maui and Big Island Ohana, Bryon Stevens, and Jeff Struthers.