Gather up whatever is
glittering in the gutter,
whatever has tumbled
in the waves or fallen
in flames out of the sky,
for it’s not only our
hearts that are broken,
but the heart
of the world as well.
Stitch it back together.
Make a place where
the day speaks to the night
and the earth speaks to the sky.
Whether we created God
or God created us
it all comes down to this:
In our imperfect world
we are meant to repair
and stitch together
what beauty there is, stitch it
with compassion and wire.
See how everything
we have made gathers
the light inside itself
and overflows? A blessing.
I used a part of this poem called “Holding the Light” by poet Stuart Kestenbaum and incorporated it into this sculptural installation. I started this project with the objective of adressing a very dark dingy space in the Sam Fox School Weil Hall basement and bringing light to it, transforming the dark, industrial, and vacant feel.
This is my largest physical project and it took many phases of prototyping at various scales to land on a final design and construction. I made these lights using very simple and accessible materials like butcher paper, flashlights, cardboard, and wire, most of which were provided by the school 3D shops.
The construction also involves sewing pins that attach the two large pieces of paper that make up the lights along the seams. I chose these pins to add a tie in to the poem text, “stitch together what beauty there is, stitch it with compassion and wire.”