270 Baby Socks, Acrylic, Mixed Media. Installation for Pacific Exhibits MicroGallery.
A decade ago, I created an art installation entitled “Rebirth of a Life”. This piece presented a creative act as an alternative to gestating a child within my body. Each day for 9 months, I made a small baby-sock pod sculpture, eventually joining all 270 in a monumental sculptural piece. “Rebirth of a life” honored my choice to focus on an art career rather than have another child, a difficult decision. Each baby-sock pod represented the birth of an idea, sent into the world to propagate and expand.
Through re-configuring the pods into a new, grid-like arrangement reminiscent of cellular networks, woven tapestries, or pages from a yearbook, I find myself reflecting upon the importance of root-connection to both familial and artistic ancestry.
Since making my choice, I’ve matured into my life as an artist, but I’ve also been hit with the heartache of losing important loved ones. The baby-sock pods have been sitting for all of these years, untouched and unseen in storage. Upon re-discovering them, I experienced a deep, nostalgic flood of emotions, reminiscent of uncovering old photographs or special mementos from the past. Together once again, we reunite to inspire fresh growth and to fertilize new creative kinship.
