Interactive Installation.
This piece was installed in both a gallery in Truth or Consequences NM, and an outdoor arts festival in Taos NM.

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I thought a lot about how our perception of self ebbs and flows through various chapters of our lives. I thought about how boring a plain blue sky would be if it never changed or obscured the light, if it never changed with the seasons or offered any extreme variations in shape and shadows. I wondered how we could learn to surrender to our own currents with the same affection.

I wanted this piece to be an exercise in self compassion. After a few years of the pandemic throwing everyone’s lives and sense of selves through the wringer, I saw how much of a toll it has taken on all of us as a collective. After a long period of resistance, I knew that the path to peace was granting ourselves grace through these changes.

This interactive installation includes a projection of clouds rolling by through a fabricated doorway, with concrete stairs for an entry point that can’t quite be accessed. To the side, there is a mailbox. The viewer is invited to take some note paper and an envelope, sit down, and write themselves a letter of gratitude in the present moment. They address the envelope and then drop it in the mailbox. They are informed that the letter will be mailed to them 6 months from now.

The printed text on the wall reads, “Healing is not a future event that is always out of reach, but a present state of continuous unfolding; an exercise in compassion and expansion.”

At the three month/halfway point to receiving their own letter, I will be mailing all the participants a postcard of various sky scenes. Each postcard will have a printed QR code that links to the song Big Sky by the Kinks, along with a short thank note for taking the time to practice self compassion. The song details the journey to seeing life’s big picture, and to revel in it. The postcard is meant to serve as a reminder to continue the act of grace moving forward while continuing to play with the portal of time.