If I Were Atlas

Clay Arts Center exhibition 2002. A few summers ago, I was sitting in a small dome tent. Sun streamed in and the most beautiful defused light surrounded me. I thought, this is what it must be like to be a bee inside a flower, to live inside a tulip! Then I thought, how would it be to have a big tulip on the roof of my house?

I live in Rochester, New York, six hours from ground zero. In the fall of 2001 I wanted to plant a garden on my roof, and all the roofs in my neighborhood. I wanted to put great beauty and potential on top of our lives. Could I plant a garden on top of the world? What would Atlas do with the burden of carrying the world? What would I do if I were Atlas? I would plant a garden on top of the world, big flowers swaying ever so sweetly as they spring from burden. The pots in this exhibition are the early manifestations of the delight in a tulip and all the simple and complicated ideas and instincts that come with this, including tragedy, naivete and beauty. Thank you to the Clay Arts Center for hosting this exhibition and taking incredibly good care of this work.