Mom & Dad: The Healing Process

History     Media    Theme

This sculpture series, of brightly-painted cardboard, illustrates the bonding of the patient and caretaker dealing with a debilitating illness and coping after a loved one has died.  Each sculpture consists of a stem, center, and spirals.

The stems are long twisted pieces of cardboard bound tightly together to show the closeness of the patient and caretaker.  Each sculpture's center represents a different stage of the caretaker's "healing process."  The spirals portray both the deceased and the living, through two color schemes ending with yellow at the tips to symbolize freedom. The patient's color palette is red to orange to yellow while the caretaker's moves from blue to green to yellow.

In The Beginning
Healing begins when the patient dies. In the first phase the  soul is freed, represented by one orange to yellow spiral floating upward. However, the caretaker like the interior's circles and spirals, is in an embryonic state of mourning trying to find a way out of the sadness.

Slowly Healing
The middle phase finds the caretaker beginning to put to rest the turmoil of the illness, symbolized by the sculpture's partially open interior and limited cascading spirals.  Because there is no more pain for the patient, the caretaker can take solace in knowing "all was done, that could be done."

In The End
In the end, even though the patient and caretaker are separated, they are forever together.  The caretaker, whose goal was to make the patient's transition as dignified as possible, is now ready to "move on" to explore life, symbolized by the sculpture's open interior and full cascading spirals.