Artist Statement
My soul will never die; only my physical body will die.
I neither fear death nor look forward to it, but revere it as the
most exalted experience of life. Both my life and death are part of a path to perfect oneness with the Divine. At the end of this 'great journey,' my body will return back to the natural elements of the Earth, while my awareness, will and memory shall live on
in my spirit.
Death is natural and not to be feared, for I trust it to be one of the most glorious of experiences, rich in spiritual potential. It is
a change, without which all would be monotonous and life itself would stagnate. Death is not the extinguishing of a light, but
rather the dimming of a lamp because a new dawn has come.
Process Statement
Photographed on the banks of the Ganges river, a site of convergence for life and death in Indian culture, Release revolves
around sacred Hindu death ceremonies. Various depictions of cremation and abstract human figures reflect on what may
be the most fascinating stage of life, and possibly the end of the spiritual journey. The completion of this spiritual cycle
balances ominous associations of death with a solemn reverence, suggesting the artist’s reflection on life as yet another
renewed cycle of rebirth and reincarnation.
