The Presence of Absence: passage to release

She was editing her first novel while taking chemo.  Our personal lives had become very small between the brain fog and the rewrites.  She inspired me to explore as many worlds of color as I could find in a single stucco wall of the house.  Our discussions, as artists, shifted between the success of her book and my images that would not blend with color. 
After her passing, I returned to the wall to finish our conversation.  The images we had talked about became Passage.  A meditation on the presence of her absence.  The project spoke without color, far from its original intent. The black and white images of Passage coalesced into a language of light to find my way back.

With time, the colors returned and defined Release, bringing the project full cycle to its original conceit.  Transformed by forgiveness and acceptance, luminous layers now blend with fresh colors sampled photographically from my new garden.  With a palette of sweet peas, iris, dahlias, and English rose, I can embrace her absence, grateful for her presence that lingers within my life.

View installation proposals for The Presence of Absence

Video by artist John Hesketh about the beginnings of
The Presence of Absence.

This was our white stucco wall used for
The Presence of Absence

The Presence of Absence: Passage


In words of luminescence

The Presence of Absence: Release


In words colored with gratitude

The Presence of Absence: Passage


In Syllables of detail

The Presence of Absence: Passage


In phrases of multiple walls