Last Friday I made a brief trip into NYC to meet with Maria and Jeanette of the Jewelry Arts Institute http://www.jewelryartsinstitute.com/home.html about my Wax Carving Class on April 19th and 26th. What a fabulous school with wonderful natural light. It is clean and organized, with an abundance of tools and positive energy. I'm looking forward to this class tremendously and am hoping some of you reading this may join me for the class.
As a highlight to my trip I had my first visit to the Rubin Museum on 17th St. in the heart of Chelsea. http://www.rmanyc.org/nav/about This museum is a small gem of sensual experience. After having a lovely lunch of salad and somosas in the café, I headed into the current exhibit, "Remember That You Will Die". In contrast to our burgeoning and blossoming spring this is a subject that is near and dear to my heart. I always seem to remember this and never forget it. The last two years of my personal world has been consumed with many beautiful souls that left this planet and are living, I hope, in another eternal realm of existence. Without loss there would not be rebirth, this is the extreme and the beautiful. And so goes this exhibit. Although the Rubin Museum specializes in art from the Himalayas and surrounding regions, the "Remember" exhibit features art and art objects from both Christian European and Tibetan Buddhist artistic traditions. "These provocative works of art are meant to startle viewers out of apathy, urge them to contemplate their mortality, and inspire them to use their short time on earth to secure a desirable place in the afterlife."
I urge you to visit this exhibit. If you see it, you will have a key into my imagination where I see skull imagery as a positive and real human experience. Those readers who know me, know that I have been obsessed with death and rebirth imagery for years (and so has mankind). The pieces, which caught my attention most, were a silver Skull Pocket Watch (Europe, 1701-1900) and the "Memento Mori of General Wallenstein" (Bohemia, 1750-1850) pictured. This show is dramatic, thrilling and scary in a good way. You will leave inspired and full of reflection.
As you experience the joy and energy of rebirth this spring, take a moment to contemplate the end, which is also the beginning. And know that without the Cosmic Joker there would be no Tinkerbelle.
