"Transition" ...Story Behind the Work


WOMEN OF THE WORLD
January 17 - March 29, 2017

Paul Robeson Galleries - Rutgers University - Newark;
350 Dr Martin Luther King Jr Blvd., Newark, New Jersey 07102



Transition
2015-16, Mixed media handmade paper with inclusions, 49"H x 22"W


About My Art in the show....

"Transition is a very personal piece of art to me in many ways. Especially as work on this piece spans a period of months when my life was in the midst of a major change." 


I began Transitions while living in one state, and completed it 3,000 miles away, after moving to another. Mourning some significant personal losses, I had a surprising joy of reconnecting with a very dear friend, whom I had lost contact with over twenty-five years earlier. I suppose it was meant to be, that, he happened to stop by my studio the day I was completing the final stage of pouring pulp for this work, and helped a bit with prep. Just thirty-five days later, without warning he was gone. After having minor surgery, that should not have posed any serious health risk. 

...The inclusions of butterflies here, represent my mother's favorite symbol. These particular butterflies were part of an earlier installation called "July 9, 2012: The Day It Rained Butterflies." Which represented the day my mother passed away. As it was also the day I came to understood that when a person leaves the earth, the dynamic of all relationships around them change forever as well. 

In early Christianity, the butterfly was a symbol of the soul. In China, it was used as a symbol of conjugal bliss and joy. The butterfly was particularly revered by the tribes of the American southwest. Its dance is performed by both Navajo and Hopis. To Native Americans, the butterfly is a symbol of change, joy and color. The exquisite butterfly was considered a miracle of transformation and resurrection. I suppose that is why the symbol was adopted in hospice-care to represent metamorphosis of the soul: the change in nature from one form to another....

The months since Transition was completed,  my season of change continues, and I am in wonder at where it is leading me next. Such a special time of peace, for which I am most thankful. No matter how life goes forward, one thing I know; in this work, I will always see remnants of when God carried me across the sands of both poignant and jubilant transitions. Understanding that, I now know my job is to be present in every season, to pray my way through it, to rest in and celebrate it, as the precious moment of time it represents.

Additional info:
http://www.rosalind-nzinga.com/events

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