Vigil, ongoing
Vigil is a site-based installation exploring the power of loss and remembrance through a unique auditory experience. Ignited by my ongoing work with a community of women continuing the ancient tradition of bedside singing to the dying, the project encourages visitors to acknowledge the passing of time and the complexity of grief while sitting together. Vigil is designed for public access in sites already embedded with their own history of loss and rebirth.
Vigil Site, Historic Chapel at Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY (2020)
Vigil Site, Clermont State Historic Site, Germantown, NY (2016)
September 19 - October 2020, Vigil was installed in the newly renovated chapel of Green-Wood Cemetery (Brooklyn). At a time when people all over the country are contending with so much individual and collective loss, sitting with others in grief, or imagining those who’ve departed before, can bring to light both the personal and universal aspects of mutual loss and invite a chance for these emotions to be processed in a therapeutic way. Visitors were invited to sit with others, walk around the space at their leisure, or simply listen.
Full Vigil documentation for Green-Wood is here.
Previously, in October 2017 Vigil was part of Reimagining Tradition, an exhibition highlighting the intersection between socially engaged art and ritual practice.
In September 2016, I created Vigil for Clermont, a historic home on the bank of the Hudson River. Housed in a former milk shed attached to the main house, the installation provided an intimate environment, creating a holding space for contemplating loss, and allowing these emotions to be processed in a public way, thus shattering the cultural norm of silence surrounding death and mourning.
Vigil was made possible by a seed grant through funds from The Pollination Project with additional support from Open Source Gallery.