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| Global Community Shoe Project |
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Gallery
| Denise Coker, QB |  |
I was so moved by this initiative begun by Connie Cohen and Stella Meades, and I am honoured and proud to participate in the project. The Concept: Using a ‘Footnote’ shoe or shoes and my own selected materials, …to create a work that will symbolize an alleviation of the loss and damage and will convey an idea of what war-affected children might need in order to begin to heal. nnThe Shoes: By artist Stella Meades for ‘footnote’ 1996.nnThe Work: Is based on a poem in Kahlil Gibran’s ‘The Prophet, where, in part, the following is written concerning Death:or what is it to die, but to stand naked in the wind…n…and what is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and seek God unencumbered.nOnly when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing. And when you have reached the mountain top, then shall you begin to climb.nAnd when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.”nnIt was that last line that kept coming back to me, over and over again as I looked at and cradled in my hands the two shoes that I received. Interestingly, during its creation the piece seemed to take on its own energy and design, such that it is now quite different from the work that I originally envisioned. It is almost as tho’ it designed itself and I was simply working alongside some powerful but unseen energies. nnTowards the manifestation of healing: The bird flying heavenward symbolizes freedom and peace, and the heart it carries so openly on its back represents a mother’s enduring love. The ceramic plate (actually a pot lid) represents the connection with earth, the home and kitchen, and, on a global scale, the universal family. The ribbons link the elements and have an ethereal gossamer quality to symbolize transition and the continuum of hope for freedom, peace and love. They remind us that there is a deep connectivity between all that exists in earth space and time…. and that healing will be complete when we cease to insist on separateness.
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