2015, felt, beads, wool felt, Arthur’s paper, holes, stamps, gold, papers, string, thread, plastic hobby grass, photos, 21 x 35 inches.
The Pilgrims sailed to the New World in 1620. During that time, lots of people were coming to America in boats. You can see Massachusetts turned on its side with the cape cradling a dove in its gentle waters. Beads and golden rays emanate from the bay, full of hope and aspiration. Massachusetts is made of felt, the oldest, gnarliest fabric used to clothe and house people. The boats are every pilgrim, cut out from stamps from all over the world.
This is all of we refugees who travel from place to place. Today, there are more people than ever looking to be saved. They all arrive in lots of different kinds of transport. We, citizens of today’s world, are most of us pilgrims of a sort. Why do people seek another place? Some people aspire to wealth and glory or some seek salvation. More frequently though, people are not going to something, but running away from something. They, and we all are, or have been, refugees. Can a place provide deliverance? In today’s world, pilgrims searching for salvation will only find it through human charity, there is no longer a promised land. Especially not America.