Siblings: Out Finding Beauty

Moments flee, flickers of conversations wax and wane
Everything is neutral
The vivid colors of life become muted for a time
Memory, transition, reflection, kinship, and empathy
All expressed through stream of consciousness writing
His and Mine
Siblings 
Olfactory experiences 
Kozo scraped in grief
Indigo induced
Paper passages of calm

​The body of work Siblings: Out Finding Beauty, featuring a selection of drawings by my late brother Jeremy, a.k.a, Cristo, reflects the inward journey of recollecting and recording memories to transition onward after a deep loss. The text panels and sculptures made of handmade paper mimic the gesture of my brothers writing and are transformed into abstract textures on the wall, a relic of the process of remembering and releasing. Neutral color pallets are paired with deep calming shades of indigo. This exhibition combines sculptures, drawings, and sensory experiences to create a space filled with reflection, remembrance, and transition.

Vulnerability was inevitable, materials were ingrained with emotion as I actively engaged with my memories and grief to create this work. The kozo fibers used in the exhibition were harvested on the day I learned of my brothers passing. I grow Kozo trees and harvest them every November. It is a community celebration at the studio as we cut down the trees, then strip and scrape the bark. It was during this harvest when I learned of my brothers death. Over the course of the next few weeks I continued to process the harvested fiber, scraping the outer bark as I grieved. The kozo vessels attached to the wall were each filled with a unique scent that conjured an experience I had with my brother as a child or adult. The scents were created from a combination of essential oils, culinary oils, spices, and paint marker. The smells ranged from hot wings to Lemon candy to the musty basement of our house on Fairwick. There were seven scents created for this piece. Jeremy had seven cents in his pocket the night he died, which still sit on the mantle in my home. This detail triggered the creation of seven scents, as well as seven cents, a work in which seven pennies are embedded into a deep indigo dyed sheet of abaca. Creating the text panels titled, Dear Jeremy, gave me a space to talk to my brother about things left unsaid, as well as laugh and cry as I recounted and wrote memories of our lives together. It was a way for me to move forward through a creative outlet, to release all of my emotions in writing and be left with relics of that experience. In the process of creating this body of work I allowed myself to be vulnerable and open to the myriad of feelings that come with grief as one tries to make peace and move forward. The exhibition was dedicated and in honor of my brother Jeremy Paul Singleton, March 6, 1980- November 17, 2017.