In high school I studied Chinese and traveled to Taiwan in the summer of my junior year in order to become fluent in the language. I’ve always been fascinated with the Chinese characters and chose them to be the theme for this piece. I’ve combined the characters with another of my passions, shelling, and depicted the journey of life using cut up pieces of oyster shells (mother of pearl)…some smooth, others thick, some fragile, others jagged. Each piece represents different chapters of our life.
The agates are icons depicting
1) A door opening into our life (bottom left corner) and
2) A coffin ending our journey/adventure (at the very top).
Our beginning and our end are flat statements, though beautiful, in comparison to our journey through life.
I’ve surrounded the happiness characters and the journey path with black baroque glass. (Black the energy of the earth and fertile soil. It’s dramatic, sad, elegant, and a chosen color of love emphasizing beauty and grace.) The glass is in constant motion - swirling throughout – symbolizing the ongoing chaos in our life. Sometimes it’s thick and heavy, other times it’s thin and almost nonexistent, but still ever present.
Thus, this piece is homage to our own epic Bliss – our Double Happiness.
Lori J. Kalberer