The Book of Hope- Page 6

[avad]

Recently finished a new page in the Book of Hope Series: Page 6- 'Creating Tomorrows'. It will be shown at the gallery in East Hampton this weekend.see website for details.
Prayers hammered in nail-code....for strength,growth, for friends, family, world, etc. How I miss the ritual whenever I stop for too long. After my next show I think I must undertake another large prayers piece. To be called (I think) 'Festival of Devotion' and done in the colors I associate with India and puja.
24" x 24" nails, enamel, resin on wood.Detail shots:

Comments

[hopeevey.livejournal.com]

Amazing, as always :)

:o)

[space-botz.livejournal.com]

*scratches head* by 'nail-code,' do you mean you've developed a nail-alphabet?

Re: :o)

[avad.livejournal.com]

Ok. you did it.you asked the question. aherm.sorry.:)It's a looong story, hope you have time:
Many years ago, fascinated by reading about the origins and development of languages around the world...from sacred pictograms to numbers,tallying of sheep to religious books laboriously hand copied...I felt a need to create an artpiece that reconnected me with the wonder and magic of writing. I wanted to be able to feel the writing of the words as I wrote them,touch the words when they were written. I created a 'Letter' which was 8 foot long in 9 parts/lines, with words from as many different languages as I could glean a word somewhat related to what I hoped to convey. From Greek to Persian to Punjabi to Chinese to Braille to ancient Phoenician, etc. ('The Languages of the World' by Kenneth Katzner was one of my most valuable resources but I looked through many other sources as well). I used nails to create the symbols, many nails for each letter, trying to get the curve and line right. The Letter was addressed 'To Whom it May Concern' and most importantly I wanted to 'write'/ask my deepest questions about existence while hammering.I thought about the world, humanity as a whole, the universe, etc...wondering, longing to understand.

The ritual of working on this piece for months led to an epiphany which I cannot properly express but has had a huge impact on my life and sense of purpose.
After finishing that piece, I felt I had to continue this ritual in a way that would eliminate the searching for 'almost' words in other languages...I needed to write and continue to write from that part of me that was activated. I found I was writing in order to BE in a prayer-like, higher state of mind.And hitting the nail was like a punctuation, a bell sounding, rippling out from a point.

I began writing in a code that was the size and sequence of english...Therefore I would actually write a sentence which became ambiguous. Hmmm how to show this.Let's take the sentence "This is a lily." in nails it might look more like: llii ii i lilj. There is only height and depth and spacing. But READING this one might also discover other possible readings such as: "Show me a baby." or "Plan on a hadj."(a pilgrimage). This intrigued me because it relates in a way to Hebrew (written without vowels) and the Kabbalah...
Anyway, I feel I must hammer/write prayers that open my heart and that in this ritual much is born, though I am not to know it all. If it is only to feel a part of a larger mystery I am happy.So far I've created 4 Letters, 6 pages of the Book of Hope and many other text pieces (see the Reading section of my website for more).Does that answer your question?:)

Re: :o)

[space-botz.livejournal.com]

yeh, it does :) the power of the written word, merged with the artistic experience... that's so awesome!

[rosylavie.livejournal.com]

Beautiful! This is a lot of work!

Very inspiring, I love the titles you give to your artwork.

[avad.livejournal.com]

*smooch*:)

[-sophera-.livejournal.com]

Beautiful, the all over effect looks like ancient script.

nail sez 'ping'

[rokkitz.livejournal.com]

what is that ringing in my ears?

*le sigh*

Re: nail sez 'ping'

[avad.livejournal.com]

Hehe. *announcer's voice*: "and this one's goin way out there to Rokkitz, yes that's right, Rokkitz...can you hear it...may you feel all warm and fuzzy and ready to save the world!"

Congratulations

[beehivebabe.livejournal.com]

You are indeed a true artist,this work has all the qualities of ancient text that you write about in your statement on the work.The detail pictures are so explicit on how the work has been made. They prove to the viewer, what we think we see and read is not always what we see and read. Beautiful, thank you for this visual and intellectual feast.

Re: Congratulations

[avad.livejournal.com]

Thank YOU for your feedback! It means so much to me that the work be able to Move others/communicate. :)
I just read through bits of your journal, smiling. Such a beautiful person.

[sweetrevlation.livejournal.com]

congratulations avad, this is amazing and im so glad to hear your are doing beautifully in spirit... it definitely shows through your work.

xoxo

[avad.livejournal.com]

*smooch* :)thank you, hon.:)