How do I define the weight of a waiting period? Particularly the weight of a wait that has no foreseeable end? Is it a spiritual weight? An emotional weight? Something I’ve created in my mind that lives and rests there?
And, how do I handle the promises made to me by others (particularly those in positions of power) that are not fulfilled? Do I hold on tightly to promises that may turn out to be empty, or do I hold a tension within my heart that goes back and forth between trust and distrust?
Out of all of these questions... perhaps the most important question of all asks a certain level of trust that loosens my grips on control above all else. Maybe the best thing I could ask myself these days is: Will I ultimately allow Grace to pierce through all of the weight, waiting, and potentially empty promises that are handed to me each day? However hard or challenging or painful that Grace may come?
This mixed media accordion fold book was created as a way of sorting through some of the weirdness this time of quarantine has held for me personally, and collectively, in my Manhattan community where I live. I used rubber stamps, watercolor, gouache, colored pencil, and China markers for this book.
To view the Illustrated Accordion online exhibition, you can go to the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center website HERE