yarn, vinyl, acrylic paint, raccoon pelt, thread, salt, wood, wax candles, silver bells, incense 

78 x 66 x 24 in.

The rug is 5' in diameter.  This rug represents the present. The rug collages elements found in performing magic circle rituals including occult writing. This rug holds raccoon pelts, silk velvet and silver bells all which are tools used for this summoning spell. The circle within an archway visualizes a gateway for the temporary world within the ordinary world.

On Rugs:

If you think of my work as a family tree, my rugs are the parents to the carpet beaters, the bells, the needle and possibly future work. The rugs represent a more of an archetypal or totemic figure—the Whore, the Crone, the Warrior, the Mother and the Heretic, to name a few. 

I see rugs as objects of spatial transitions and a protective barrier—their soft borders protecting whether they are on the wall, floor or resting on one's shoulders. Keeping in mind notions of the occult, the rugs take on the motif of the magic circle which, in itself, is a boundary but it is also more than that—it is a passage, a gateway, a portal between the natural and supernatural. The rug is not necessarily used to hide something from us but to reveal the hiddenness in the world, our world—the world-in-itself vs. the world-for-us.

Detail

Detail

Detail

Yarn, cow leather, fake hair, nylon, silk poppies, thread, recycled plastic bags, salt, wood, wax candles, silver bells, incense, deer horn, bitterdock, mullein, globe thistle

78 x 66 x 24 in

2020

Her/etic rug represents the beginning, birth and rebirth. Heresy is to dissent or to contrary to the dominant doctrine. Heresy also can also spark a much desired change—ideas birthing ideas. It collages material elements and occult writings found in summoning rituals. The other elements found not on the rug, waxed bitterdock, mullein, globe thistle, silver bells, storax incense, and deer horn reference the story about the Stag Queen, Artemis. The circle within an archway visualizes a portal towards temporary worlds within the ordinary world. The white arch symbolizes the salt used in protection circles and salt connects the base of the arch to complete and enclose the circle. 

On Rugs:

If you think of my work as a family tree, my rugs are the parents to the carpet beaters, the bells, the needle and possibly future work. The rugs represent a more of an archetypal or totemic figure—the Whore, the Crone, the Warrior, the Mother and the Heretic, to name a few. 

I see rugs as objects of spatial transitions and a protective barrier—their soft borders protecting whether they are on the wall, floor or resting on one's shoulders. Keeping in mind notions of the occult, the rugs take on the motif of the magic circle which, in itself, is a boundary but it is also more than that—it is a passage, a gateway, a portal between the natural and supernatural. The rug is not necessarily used to hide something from us but to reveal the hiddenness in the world, our world—the world-in-itself vs. the world-for-us.

Detail

Steel, deer antler, blue vervain, hawthorn thorns, cotton, wax

15 x 40 x 9in.

Artemis is early in my historical figure rehabilitation work. I was just starting to work with this idea that “Demons are other people” but I wasn’t quite sure how to begin researching and dismantling the notions of demons. Artemis is not equated to any demon but she was vilified in the Bible. The Fertility Cult of Artemis was defamed in the Bible in Acts 19, where Paul of Ephesus narrowly escaped “mob violence” at the hands of worshipers of Artemis. But basically what happened, Paul bashed the craftsmen who made and sold coins and trinkets with the image of Artemis on it. He, then, convinced large sums of people to stop buying the idol coins saying “gods made by human hands are no gods at all.”

Acts 19:26-28

26 And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. 27 There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.” 28 When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 

I stumbled upon this factoid while reading the footnotes of James Charlesworth's translation of The Old Testament: Pseudepigrapha.

Artemis, according to Greek Mythology, is the virgin huntress of the wild and associated with the young of all living things, especially wildlife. Artemis is a many-breasted goddess housed in the Artemisium, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and she is the goddess of birth and patroness of hunting.

On Carpet Beaters:

Sometimes the hidden world reveals itself without any magic circle to serve as a boundary. The carpet beaters, bells and a needle with thread are all not quite pure nature, not quite supernatural and maybe unnatural. They are manifestations of the hidden world revealed in our world. I hope these works lead us to ask whether there is a history hidden within history and what is a new take on history(1).* Now let's think of the magic circle as defined with the rugs—not as a circle but as a game or a playground where magic and the occult happen upon. Think of Marlowe’s The Tragedy of Doctor Faustus (1593) and how tools, both of the natural world and secular-sacred objects, are used to play the game of magic(2). 

My carpet beaters are secular-sacred objects that are a play on a broomstick and a magic wand. When I started making my rugs, I started looking into how rugs were cleaned before technology. Truth be told, I was poking around a local antique store, came across a wall of antique metal carpet beaters, I bought two of them and the rest is history. I was already into occult writing and developing my own sigilic** writing. I turned the head of a carpet beater into a sigil and used the handle as an opportunity to tell more of the story of the sigil through the handle materials. I would like to think that with each swing of the carpet beater, the whoosh through the air is the whisper of the beater’s name. 

**A sigil is a type of symbol used in magic. The term usually refers to a pictorial signature of a deity or spirit (such as an angel or demon). In modern usage, especially in the context of chaos magic, a sigil refers to a symbolic representation of the practitioner's desired outcome. It is a hidden language.

Detail

Steel, selenite

13 x 40 x 2in.

Opaque darkness in a milky crystal,

A dim journey changes.

Altered thoughts and moving wills,

we make all your decisions.

On Carpet Beaters:

Sometimes the hidden world reveals itself without any magic circle to serve as a boundary. The carpet beaters, bells and a needle with thread are all not quite pure nature, not quite supernatural and maybe unnatural. They are manifestations of the hidden world revealed in our world. I hope these works lead us to ask whether there is a history hidden within history and what is a new take on history(1).* Now let's think of the magic circle as defined with the rugs—not as a circle but as a game or a playground where magic and the occult happen upon. Think of Marlowe’s The Tragedy of Doctor Faustus (1593) and how tools, both of the natural world and secular-sacred objects, are used to play the game of magic(2). 

My carpet beaters are secular-sacred objects that are a play on a broomstick and a magic wand. When I started making my rugs, I started looking into how rugs were cleaned before technology. Truth be told, I was poking around a local antique store, came across a wall of antique metal carpet beaters, I bought two of them and the rest is history. I was already into occult writing and developing my own sigilic** writing. I turned the head of a carpet beater into a sigil and used the handle as an opportunity to tell more of the story of the sigil through the handle materials. I would like to think that with each swing of the carpet beater, the whoosh through the air is the whisper of the beater’s name. 

**A sigil is a type of symbol used in magic. The term usually refers to a pictorial signature of a deity or spirit (such as an angel or demon). In modern usage, especially in the context of chaos magic, a sigil refers to a symbolic representation of the practitioner's desired outcome. It is a hidden language.

Steel, pine, cow leather, waxed thread, wax, candles

13.5 x 40 x 2 in.

On Carpet Beaters:

Sometimes the hidden world reveals itself without any magic circle to serve as a boundary. The carpet beaters, bells and a needle with thread are all not quite pure nature, not quite supernatural and maybe unnatural. They are manifestations of the hidden world revealed in our world. I hope these works lead us to ask whether there is a history hidden within history and what is a new take on history(1).* Now let's think of the magic circle as defined with the rugs—not as a circle but as a game or a playground where magic and the occult happen upon. Think of Marlowe’s The Tragedy of Doctor Faustus (1593) and how tools, both of the natural world and secular-sacred objects, are used to play the game of magic(2). 

My carpet beaters are secular-sacred objects that are a play on a broomstick and a magic wand. When I started making my rugs, I started looking into how rugs were cleaned before technology. Truth be told, I was poking around a local antique store, came across a wall of antique metal carpet beaters, I bought two of them and the rest is history. I was already into occult writing and developing my own sigilic** writing. I turned the head of a carpet beater into a sigil and used the handle as an opportunity to tell more of the story of the sigil through the handle materials. I would like to think that with each swing of the carpet beater, the whoosh through the air is the whisper of the beater’s name. 

**A sigil is a type of symbol used in magic. The term usually refers to a pictorial signature of a deity or spirit (such as an angel or demon). In modern usage, especially in the context of chaos magic, a sigil refers to a symbolic representation of the practitioner's desired outcome. It is a hidden language.

steel, oak, sweetgrass, yarrow, cotton, wax
18 x 40 x 2in.

Young ones know where the yarrow grows
While mothers’ hands carry sweetgrass strands
And time trickles when the hag uses her sickle

Horae were both known as Aphrodite’s nymphs and the Priestesses of the Hours. In ancient western societies, women were the time keepers and these women, the Horae, were also said to be the ones who trained men in sex. The women who kept time in ancient Persian were called Houris and Harines in Babylon.  In the 1530s, hore began to be the slang for sex workers with the now common spelling, whore, appearing in the 1580s.

The earliest known use of the derogatory term, in a variety of spellings, horan, hora, hor, was at least the 1200s. What I think is interesting is that most etymological dictionaries take whore back to the 12th c but rarely does it consider that whore could be derived from the Horas, Houris, and the Harines. I think this is another example of demonizing language.

Detail

underglaze on stoneware, acrylic, waxed cotton thread
9.5 x 4 x 4 in.
2021

Noctilucent dawn
A distant, quiet stars lures
Watching the water

video of the bell sound can be found on Vimeo

Detail

underglaze on lavender porcelain, waxed thread

8.5 x 3.5 x 3.5 in.

Ring by one, all dangers from travel are gone
Ring by twain, those who mean you harm are slain⠀⠀
Ring by thrice, it will need a sacrifice⠀⠀
But ring by four, everything is no more

video of the bell sound can be found on Vimeo

Detail

underglaze on stoneware, waxed thread

13 x 5.5 x 6 in.

Ring by one, all dangers from travel are gone. 

Ring by twain, those who mean you harm are slain.⠀⠀

Ring by thrice, it will need a sacrifice.⠀⠀

But ring by four, everything is no more.

video of the bell ringing can be found on Vimeo