Behind Body of Starlight: The Piece That Anchors Everything

Every collection has a piece that anchors everything else. The one that came first, or went deepest, or carried the most. For Thresholds, that piece is Body of Starlight.

I want to tell you about it, not just the technical details, but where it actually came from.

There was a period in my life, not that long ago, when I was questioning whether to keep going. Not life, my work. Whether the art was worth the sustained effort, the uncertainty, the years of building something with no guaranteed return. I'm being honest with you because I think a lot of artists know this feeling and nobody talks about it out loud.

I was at a threshold. And the question was: do you carry the light forward even when you can't see what you're walking toward?

That question became Body of Starlight.

The piece is large, it commands the room it's in. It is certainly not meant to blend into the wall and be forgotten about. The base layers are deep purple and magenta, with some periwinkle for light whimsy, built up through layers of crystals and orchids. The fiber optic strands run through the piece as if they’re stars falling with the abstract waterfall streams. When the light source connects, the whole surface glows from within, like something alive.

It took several weeks to make. A few of those days were the resin pours, which have to happen in the right sequence or the whole thing collapses. The fiber optics were threaded by hand before the pour. And in the short window before the resin cures, is when I add the crystals and flowers. You don't get to redo it if there’s a mistake.

When it cured and I connected the light for the first time, I sat on the floor in front of it for a long time. It looked like the sky I drive out to see in the desert at 2am. The one that's too full of stars to hold without crying a little.

That's what I was trying to make. The feeling of carrying light inside you when everything outside is dark. The evidence that something still glows, even in the middle.

Body of Starlight is available currently at Kayenta Center for the Arts until June 30th. If you've felt it calling to you, I want you to know that's not accidental. These pieces find their people. And if you want to talk about what it would mean to bring it home, I'm here.