Remembering
In this living state of existence, we are constantly faced with the inevitability of death, although our self-preservation instincts may try to avoid the topic until its inevitability becomes unavoidable. Memories fade and evolve, and we must ponder that which is lost or forgotten as much as that which is remembered.
From Pasture
Media: old metal washbasin, Styrofoam, horse skull, faux flowers
This old metal washbasin contains a glimpse into a forgotten field, grown over with wildflowers concealing a horse skull that is obvious only from above. There is a beautiful and intimate inevitability in death, knowing that it will touch each and every one of us and that we will return to the earth.
Until Death Do Us Part
A skeletal hand clutches a Best Friends charm close, half of two that make one whole, under a key on a bed of flax seed. Flax was a Victorian symbol for the home and domesticity and seeds represent the potential for life and the life cycle. This piece was a commentary on my idea of the roles in marriage, of my role as wife and yearning for a true partnership that lasted over the course of our entire lifetimes.
Unto Dust
A broken doll snakes in an “s” on a bed of rusty sand, enveloped in dried flowers with green beetles at its back. This piece is a reflection on the beauty of decay.
Voices of the Past
A rusted metal tractor seat overgrown with ivy cradles a deer jawbone and evidence of a man’s presence (smoking pipe, men’s leather glove, antique glasses in their pocket holder). These glasses were passed down in my family but I do not recall if they belonged to a great grandfather or a great uncle.
From Pepe
A child’s dress, animal jawbones and other miscellany are nestled in an old whitewashed window frame from my past house in St. Louis, MO, USA. This piece was for Pepe, an animal rescued sheep that lived on the Humane Society farm in Missouri.
Grandmother’s Attic
Deer antlers, a crocheted doily, mouse traps and handmade old-fashioned cinnamon ornaments float among other objects above a bed of cinnamon sticks in a whitewashed window frame. A diptych with Grandpa’s Shed, this window explores maintaining the house and home amidst hardship.
Grandpa’s Shed
Tattered worn handyman’s gloves, a pipe and a deer jawbone float among other objects above a bed of eucalyptus in a stained wood window frame. A diptych with Grandmother’s Attic, this window explores maintaining the house and home amidst hardship.
Down by the River
Various objects including a white cotton doll’s skirt, photo negatives and a deer jawbone float above a bed of cattails in a white washed window frame. Another in a series of pieces incorporating old windows from my previous house in St. Louis, MO, USA, this piece reflects upon watching the river go by and the lazily sneaky passage of time as it creeps up on you.
Mingling Memories
A heavy layer of cinnamon and cumin encrusts a wood cigar box lid housing various objects arrayed over a bed of cinnamon sticks. This artwork reflects upon how smell can elicit memory and cause flashbacks, and the cinnamon and cumin were intentionally quite overpowering.
Dreamcatcher
A deer jawbone, old photograph and various found objects float above a crocheted doily in a wreath of green foliage. This is one of four Dreamcatchers that I created in this style.
Message & Victim
Media: (“Message”) faux skeleton arm with lavender bouquet varnished to a bed of river rocks. (“Victim”) broken doll face varnished to a bed of river rocks
A skeletal arm reached out with a small dried lavender bouquet from the water of the river, emerging from a bed of polished stones. A broken doll face stares out from the water of the river, emerging from a bed of polished stones. “Message” and “Victim” reflect on what exists both above and below the surface. When I was young, I was sitting in the river on a camping trip, picking up smooth stones to study them as they dried and flick them back into the river. In doing so, I found a flint arrowhead, worn from the water running over it. It didn’t appear as anything other than a jagged edged rock until I studied it closer…
Classification
A carefully arrayed grouping of skeleton leg bones lays atop a bed of rusty sand waiting to be catalogued. We try to make sense of everything around us, even including death, forming our own ideas of how things belong together.
Mantle Installation and View of Relics and Reliquaries
Jennifer Weigel is a multi-disciplinary mixed media conceptual artist. Weigel utilizes a wide range of media to convey her ideas, including assemblage, drawing, fibers, installation, jewelry, painting, performance, photography, video, and writing. Much of her work touches on themes of beauty , identity (especially gender identity), memory & forgetting, and institutional critique. Weigel’s art has been exhibited nationally in all 50 states in the United States and has won numerous awards.
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