As did those before, we both shall succumb to rot. Be not afraid, as you are laid in the soil of my birth, becoming without form, into darkness deep. From what remains, I shall again take light, nourished within your reliquary. sprouting back towards the burning sky, clung to a spit turning in the void
RIP Joans Craft Supply Store
So while I was in grad school working for the Emily Davis Gallery they held a Faculty show, and I too technically worked there and was in charge of the desk. I annually glue googly eyes to gourds to give out as gifts, and was originally going to decorate the desk with some to be festive but decided a more crafty approach would be better! After a trip to Joans I had all the materials I needed to make something I thought would be very funny. I think gourds are a holy relic in our culture to be quite honest, and well Yayoi Kusama would probably agree with me, who doesn't honor the pumpkin once a year? But the biblically accurate gourd is one of bumps, of uneven edges, and splotchy color. The true gourd will rot, mold, and decay the longer you honor it - ripped away from its vine. Seemed a fitting religious metaphor. I have also documented its slow rot on my instagram. The following year was a Skulls and Skeletons show and I still worked at the gallery, so I bought a skull and hot glued bumps on it and painted it to look like a gourd, but was more just decorative.