Trail Dreams/Beyond the Body

“Trail Dreams/Beyond the Body” reflects the journey of my imagination during a time when health challenges derailed my ability to hike and explore mountain trails, forests and meadows. Without the deep nourishment I experience from this relationship to wild places, I noticed that despair was lurking nearby. I longed for the feeling of curiosity and anticipation at new trailheads and the ever-shifting visual landscape, close and far. I missed the sense of wonder when the trail first breaks the tree line, the magic of encountering sunlit meadows thick with interesting plants, and the awe of summit views and sky. In romanticizing these experiences, it is easy to forget the anxiety about threatening weather, the difficulty in crossing fierce streams, the exhaustion of climbing. Then, later, one remembers.
Piece by piece, I sought to manifest the hiking experience, with the goal of accessing those large feelings and a state of equanimity. "Trail Dreams/Beyond the Body" is both a meditation and a reconciliation, a reminder that an experience of wonder can be reached with or without an able body.

Materials: Stained glass, Italian and Mexican smalti, mixed glass materials, slate and mixed stone and pebbles, unglazed porcelain, picassiette, beeds, ceramic, original photographs etched on stained glass, LED light.

[Note to Jurors: (1) This piece is divided between two separate boards. Each board has its own hanging system: embedded D-rings with a hanging wire between the rings. The width is the combined width of the two boards. This system works well with all gallery hanging systems. I am unable to provide a photo of the back at this time because it is currently located in a small community-based gallery space in another city. I will have it back in my possession next month.
(2) This work contains one translucent component, a photograph etched onto dichroic glass that is backlit by a small corded LED light with a plug. This piece works best when located near an outlet that can be accessed directly by the cord, or via an extension cord. ]