Water is the broth that produced life on earth. Water nourishes, purifies, and renews.
Without water we are nothing more than dust, to which all organisms eventually return. Water urges seeds to bud and larvae to metamorphose. Water is never passive; it is living and spiritual matter. In religious rites around the globe, it is used to elevate spiritual awareness and is seen as a conduit between this world and the Other.
For Jews, this gateway is the mikvah—a body of water collected from rainfall. Every month a woman is obligated to immerse herself in a mikvah to once again become a partner with God and her husband in the act of creation. As she emerges from the waters, she is born anew, ready to conceive once more. The concept of mikvah is also an integral feature of conversion, and the focal point of taharah, the preparation of the deceased for burial by washing the person with rain water.
For Christians, there is baptism—the door that gives access to all other sacraments, defined in the Roman Catholic catechism as “the sacrament of regeneration by water in the word.” An initiate is submerged in water and is born again into the Church; the person symbolically dies in the water and is born again by it. Likewise in India, Hindus bathe in the River Ganges—known as Mother Ganges—to cleanse their soul, and hope to die there, thus be liberated from the cycle of earthly life.
Umbrellas endure challenges in all kinds of weather—harsh winds, driving rain, and sometimes the rays of unrelenting sun. When their ribs break and the fabric tears, they are abandoned on city streets. Alone in the womb of the night, their remains take on a new life. The sixteen umbrellas in this collection—now freed from their assigned role—re-emerged as flowers, butterflies, and moths. These abandoned umbrellas reveal the beauty inherent in a discarded object, and deepen our awareness of the ever changing face of life.
Under the great canopy that holds the moon and stars, lies a planet inhabited with birds and beasts. Looking at the heavens, we marvel as one star vanishes and another appears in a dazzling dance of flickering lights. Death is always near; what’s important is how we keep the light within aflame—to live each day as if it is the first day; the last day; the only day.
Raindrops fall, gently tapping the earth on its shoulders, like an alarm clock entreating the living to face life boldly. And when faced with loss, to wait with faith for life to be renewed.
Abraham Menashe