Madeleine Lord
Cherubim, Seraphim
2001-2002
Torch -cut discarded shovels
Oak Grove

I think of the shovel and the dual role it plays in a cemetery. It breaks ground for the living trees and shrubs, and also the burial sites for the dead. Both tasks transform place and time for the living and elevate the lowly nature of the tool, the first and final servant.

Why not turn its working point to heaven and draw the face of an angel, cherub, or archangel- kind and soothing spiritual beings we think of as guardians?

I draw with light, coaxing it to pass through lines cut in steel. In this case, I transform the shovels into companion beings that mark the transition between the visual and invisible states. Inspiration came from photos of my once small children and long past grandparents, faces and expressions that are familiar, universal and reassuring. They are grouped like a family or chorus: communal, respectful, uplifting intermediaries between the earth and the unknown.

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