Evidence of Ritual Damage Lot #017

1998 · Digital image, Stoneware, Wood, Plexiglass
19" x 13" x 4"

Excerpt: "...he sees himself as he was years ago. The self from the past is not surprised to see him. They talk about things to come, one speaking in the future tense and the other in the past tense."

Part of the series Evidence of Ritual Damage, these works use the significance we place on history and the stories, both ancient and contemporary, with which we define ourselves as individuals and as a people. Much of this history is speculation and we fill in the gaps according to our personal and cultural needs.

This work begins with the Celtic practice of ritual damage or the destruction of objects that were to accompany the deceased in the afterlife. These were objects that would be in the afterlife and had to be "killed" in order to accompany the deceased.