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My Story
The Impact
I am a self-trained artist who is inspired by the beauty of nature and the guiding force of my intuition. I draw and I create primal sculpture and wearable art from trees and stones, which I fashion into ritual staffs, wearable amulets, and employ in healing rituals. My designs are entirely hand-made and one-of-a-kind.
British Airways recently announced that my business Sticks & Stones has been selected as a 2010 Face-of-Opportunity winner and has been awarded travel to anywhere in the world to conduct business meetings, as well as attend the British Airways Face-of-Opportunity business conference. This award is part of the British Airways Face-to-Face program, which provides small business owners and entrepreneurs the critical tools for building business relationships abroad and stimulating growth through the power of face- to-face interaction.
Sounds great, right? But British Airways supplies only the plane tickets. In order for me to take advantage of this amazing opportunity, I have to raise the money for all my living expenses once overseas. Also, because of the contest rules, I must travel from February 3rd and return by March 4th. In other words, I have to raise money fast!
I plan to travel to Thailand, a relatively low-cost destination with a centuries-old tradition of woodcarving, in order to meet and study with indigenous master wood carvers and native shaman. My goal is to increase my technical proficiency, deepen my work as a healing ritual artist -- and document the experience on video. I will also learn about international commerce from the British Airways sessions, make global connections with the other contest winners, and explore ways to exhibit my work overseas.
I have connected with like-minded volunteers in Bangkok who will act as my tour guides for several weeks during my stay. They will travel with me to Chaing Main and more remote areas, provide part-time housing, introduce me to artists and shamans, and help me document my work.
In a nutshell: I want to travel to Thailand to deepen my art-making by connecting with people who employ ritual objects for healing and spiritual purposes. I see myself uniquely positioned in the crossroads between ritual and art and as a conduit from ancient ways to modern times. Ive touched upon something via my artwork that feels very important, not only to me, but potentially to others as well. I hope as I continue to develop, I can offer what I discover to a wider and wider circle of people.
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What I Need & What You Get
Some history:
Due to a life-threatening crisis in 2002, I spontaneously started carving for protection and spiritual connection making what I call Sacred Staffs from the roots and trunks of trees. Prior to becoming a visual artist, I was an actor, employing the ritual aspects of theatre to impact community. Now my path to a sacred space and a quest towards the divine has shifted to creating sacred objects and drawings. My work explores issues of love and loss, spirituality, sexuality, and gender identification and how these intersect. I also teach workshops combing these elements. Through these various ritual practices and explorations, Ive been fortunate to obtain a glimpse of my healing abilities.
I tapped into carving on a visceral level, and what stemmed from crisis evolved to exhibition: The Prospect Park Alliance and the Audubon Center sponsored a three-month solo show Sticks & Stones at the Boathouse in Brooklyns Prospect Park, and The National Museum of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender History presented a two-month solo show. I was profiled in The Daily News; was the subject of feature articles in Mann About Town magazine, Home News Tribune, In Brooklyn, The Park Slope Paper, The Wave, and The Daily Sitka Sentinel, and featured on NY-1 Television.
In 2009, I was awarded a Development Grant from Fractured Atlas to study with Native American Tlingit master woodcarver Tommy Joseph in Sitka Alaska. I worked with Tommy in his beautiful studio at the Southeast Indian Cultural Center, housed inside the Sitka National Historical Park. I was surrounded by formline art a style rarely seen in New York City outside of the Museum of the American Indian. When I stepped into Tommys studio I was overwhelmed by the sheer beauty and power of the objects within. Under Tommys tutelage, I carved a mask out of a tree trunk using traditional Tlingit hand tools. The mask, entitled Trans-Formation manifested from a dream. Carving with Tommy was hard physical work, humbling, profound and lots of fun too. (See The Spirit in the Mask http://artistsoulspeaks.wordpress.com/2009/10/1....
Carvings, and the creation of masks and staffs, are an ancient art form of expression in many cultures and traditions, including in Judaism, my roots. And in the past most designed objects were used for ritual. But I live in NYC -- a fast-paced environment surrounded by mass-produced goods created by machines. The objects most of us use on a daily basis have little intrinsic beauty or spiritual value. And all too often we live separated from nature and many of us rarely participate in rituals, rites of passage or celebrations with community.
Thailand is well known for the carving of statues destined for various Buddhist temples in Thailand and other parts of Asia. Bangkok has countless examples of this type of carving, with its pinnacle being the reclining Buddha at Wat Pho, the longest reclining Buddha in the world. Wat Pho also contains over 1,000 other Buddha images, many carved. Secular carving is also popular and can include carvings of monkeys, elephants or other natural forms. There is a parallel history of Animism with a belief that guardian spirits inhabit rivers, canals, trees and other natural features, which pre-dates the arrival of all other religions and still plays a role in the everyday life of most residents, with spirit shrines in abundance throughout the country.
Studying with Native carver Tommy Joseph in Alaska inspired me, and now I want to build on that experience to work with artists who have a different form of Native art, integral and essential to their lives. I am fascinated to meet and study with Thai masters, to expose myself to their ancient forms and incorporate them into my work in a non-traditional environment: the urban jungle that is New York. My goal is to continue my study with artists who recognize the vital connection between the Source, the earth, what we make with our hands, and our global connection to one-another.
Now, via this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity offered from British Airways, along with your contribution, I will be able to enhance my proficiency and deepen the inherent spiritual connection of my artwork. I look forward to my return and to sharing with you what I learn.
Will you help me to actualize my gifts so that they can be a source of beauty, healing, and joy?
I plan to stay in the cheapest (safe) accommodations, stay with my tour guides and other local families and in backpacking hostels whenever possible. Still, I need money for transportation, lodging, food, immunization shots, equipment plus money for materials and to donate to my teachers. Ive been advised that I should have approximately $3,000 for the trip, which, G-d willing, will take place February 3rd March 3rd 2011.
I already have the plane reservations but I cant get on the plane and go to Thailand without your help!
My fundraising goals:
40 people donate $10 ($400)
35 donate $20 ($700)
25 donate $30 ($750)
15 donate $40 (600)
5 donate $50 ($250)
3 donate $100 ($300)
Total goal: $3,000
NOTE: If I reach my goal, website administrators take 9% if I dont meet my goal, and 4% if I do.
If I dont raise at least $1,000 by February 1st I wont step foot on the plane! Of course you have till March 2nd to make your donations but please dont wait that long do it right away!
Will you support me at the highest level that is comfortable for you?
Any amount will help me reach my goal.
Safe and secure on-line donations can be made right on this site.
MANY THANKS IN ADVANCE!
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