fjzider@att.net
http://jozider.com
THE SILENT VOICES OF BONES
As the debate was raging in the seventies and eighties between art and craft, I was creating objects d’art made of clay. I thought by the nineties I had conquered the classification as I pursued my abstract figurative works in clay depicting characters from Japanese Kabuki theatre and landscape on 3-D form. However, the attraction of objects over issues waned and I evolved into a visual art activist.
For ten years I have been creating bones of clay and the bones are not for sale; I give them away. Each bone is a physical remembrance of a victim of abuse. Each bone is a prayer. The bones are the ‘Silent Voices’ of those who can no longer speak. Used in repetition in large numbers, they reach critical mass; their voices resonate silently within our hearts. “The Labyrinth”, “The Mending Circle”, and “The Chime” proved a powerful interactive installation and demonstrated the effectiveness of these bones to touch the human spirit and further understanding. I have cast in bronze some of the bones for the chimes which ring with the breeze to celebrate healing.
