Centre for Studies in Religion and Society, Uvic, Victoria BC

Pentimenti: Ceramic Funeral Urns as Biographies of Spiritual Homecomings

Through the creation of a series of unique ceramic funeral vessels, my project at the CSRS explores personal stories of returning home at the end of life to abandoned or forbidden roots of belief and spiritual practice. The concept of pentimento came to my attention as I read the first chapter of Religious Understandings of a Good Death in Hospice Palliative Care, a book produced by the CSRS. There it was, the focus for my research and creation in this residency. The word pentimento is taken from the Italian, pentirsi, to repent. It is used in oil painting to refer to the reappearance over time of original elements that the artist tried to obliterate by overpainting. It is that same phenomenon which I propose to express through multiple ceramic surface treatments and glaze techniques, to express individual biographies from a variety of cultural and spiritual backgrounds. Some of these pieces speak of experiences of the good death, to be sure. Others speak of spiritual pain and resiliency at the end of life, particularly in the wake of collective trauma.

It speaks of the character of the CSRS that, as a scholarly research centre composed each year of twenty or so research fellows, it also wants to hear the expressive languages and voices of artists. The centre’s focus is on multidisciplinary reflection on important themes which engage religion and society. I feel privileged to be there.

For more information go to the website of CSRS here. Or check out the video on my blog!

I’m grateful to many for their moral encouragement and to the following institutions for financial support: Centre for Studies in Religion and Society at the University of Victoria; Sacred Arts Trust of the Anglican Foundation of Canada.