“Purification Statues” is a horizontal installation where I invited the viewer to interact with my work. This statement was placed with the piece.

Many ancient societies as well as some religions today use paper and pen in a ritual of cleansing. Some examples of this are the Shinto Shrines in Japan or the Wailing Wall in Israel. The ancient Maya would burn their unwanted thoughts on paper in hopes they would vanish into the spirit world.

I invite all viewers to write a prayer or feeling they would like to rid themselves of and place this rolled paper in the bottom opening of a figure of their choice. The ritual will be complete when you hold the figure over a flame and burn the paper.

The slides show:

(1) A view of the completed statues;
(2) Ceil making the statues;
(3) Closeup of four statues; and
(4) Completing the ritual in the museum setting.

Use the “Prev slide” and “Next slide” links to move from slide to slide.