Celestial Inversion

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R-L Big Sky, Divination Bones, Sky Eye, Celestial Cloud Disc, Bone Oval, Angels Gate Cultural Center, LA CA

R-L, Divination Bones, Celestial Cloud Disc, Sky Eye, Celestial Cloud Disc, Bone Oval, Angels Gate Cultural Center, LA CA

R-L Divination Bones, Star Hide, World, Angels Gate Cultural Center, LA CA

Celestial Inversion

The spectacle of the night sky is a bridge to the past. Ancient starlight connects us with our ancestors. When we are able to see the brilliant sky, we see much the same view as people from long ago. Throughout the ages, mankind has projected desires and fortunes onto the stars, the interpretations serving as an adviser for human action on earth. From our tiny spot in the universe, we have personalized the universal, using the heavens for our own purposes. The installation, Celestial Inversion uses the idea of turning the stellar inward, with complementary yet polar elements; light and dark, stellar imagery made with materials of the earth and earthly imagery comprised of cosmic symbols.

On one side, there are representations of the night sky set in the black void. These are star discs made from pearls, bones and metallic powders, set into tar, on wood. The earth elements are used to express the connection we have to the stellar phenomenon. The Big Sky disc with various western constellations joins Sky Eye and Celestial Could Discs. Divination Bones line up at the bottom of this group, and are inlaid with crushed pearl. The entire dark side is meant to give the effect of the night.

Opposite is the central piece, Star Skin. Constellations are burned into hide, combining eastern and western systems of mapping the sky. This side has ceramic bones in a more natural color, inlaid with seeds and World, a planetary body covered in soap, is inlaid with tiny seeds and bones.

Lines come down from both sets of ceramic bones onto the floor, to create a path down the center of the room. Walking through the installation is traveling through a three- dimensional map, where we encounter the celestial phenomenon and what it inspires in us, connecting us to the universe and people, past and present.