Transcendence
Why
What are we really? Physical form, or pure spirit?
There is a spiritual teaching that says physical form is an illusion we project so we can feel like we are our own creator. That illusion of form is a guilded frame surrounding a picture of death, because all form is temporary. The frame - our bodies, our physical world - is meant to distract our attention from the death inherent in its nature.
To transcend death is to look past form, to identify with the infinite source of life. Doing so can feel like a slippery slope, like skating on thin ice into nowhere.
We must choose our maps wisely.
How
Doll’s skating outfit - hand crocheted by my maternal grandmother, Nellie Freeman
Doll skates - Ebay
Bird skull - found by Carrie on her land
Mask - exhibited at The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Frame - from an old clock
Map - of Sir Francis Drake's route round the world, 1577-1580, copy exhibited at Wakulla Springs State Park, Florida
Setting - roof of a vintage dollhouse purchased at Circa
Rusty Texture - from my friend Wendy’s old garden chair
Snow/stars - photographed on my back deck in Charlottesville, Virginia