ILONA ALTMAN

installation 

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the trees are writing letters, spring 2020

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when the dew dries, spring 2020


The Most True Story, spring 2020
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Allegheny Cemetery, spring 2020

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i walk in the cemetery very slowly on roads coated with the salt of the earth my head wondering if maybe they are crystals 
i notice a few other things:
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that collections of people gather near tables at the entrance of the cemetery, 
that there are so many birds, that remind me of mythologies where they are the very creatures that carry souls to the afterlife,
that some graves are more prominent than others, some gravestones have spines that are completely entangled with the earth's spine, not visible at all from a distance ,
that there is a pool of water that reflects the sky, when i am here two people sit on a bench and they rest,
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and so, i leave
and i return, 
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with around two dozen clementines,
doilies,
fabric (clearish red and a light mud shade),
many bird seeds,
a tiny crimson pot, 
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placing them 
on surfaces of earth
gently 
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bright clementines: offering to the living hungry visitors or to the spirits?
seeds: offerings to the living hungry birds, or to the birds that carry the souls or are they the same beings?
the little pot made of paper pulp with a branch i found near the table: honoring the physical place, or someone buried in the ground, or God, or gods? 
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someday, it will be - 
rotting clementines
absent seeds or seeds dispersed by the wind or covered with earth
some paper pulp that used to be a little pot 
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sculpture

Time Capsule

fall 2018
trusting the earth to carry it there

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The Openness Medallion

fall 2018
signaling the letting go of ego, an awareness of all things as being whole 
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bones, spring 2018
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weighted, spring 2018
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vessel, spring 2018

performance / ritual 

nurturing, spring 2018
two events centered on healing, the first exploring with 3 of cleansing, physical nourishment, and spiritual nourishment, and the next on dream healing.