Meditations on Death

Meditations on Death

When thinking back on any of my death-centric work, I always considered the process a form of meditation. Perhaps some of these images can be a source of reflection for you as well.

Scroll to view gallery. Available work from this series can be purchased here.

Wounded Crow. 2014.

Wounded Crow. 2014.

Wounded crow brought in
That I may mend this poor thing
Dies before I can

Gravel. 2005.

Gravel. 2005.

Sacred Deer, uncovered. [diptych left]. 2009.

Sacred Deer, uncovered. [diptych left]. 2009.

Sacred Deer, covered. [diptych left]. 2009.

Sacred Deer, covered. [diptych left]. 2009.

Creature of the Air. 2006.

Creature of the Air. 2006.

Undaunted. 2008.

Undaunted. 2008.

As if given life
The wasp I swat yesterday
Walked across the pane

Pigeon. 2020.

Pigeon. 2020.

Little Bird. 2003.

Little Bird. 2003.

Stillness. 2002.

Stillness. 2002.

Struck. 2009.

Struck. 2009.

This snake was the first animal I struck with my car, and the first ever creature, apart from insects, that I killed. When it happened, I pulled over so that I could be with it as it died.

Sacred Deer (Study). 2009.

Sacred Deer (Study). 2009.

Wings. 2017.

Wings. 2017.

Red Feathers. 2010.

Red Feathers. 2010.

Fallen from the Sky. 2017

Fallen from the Sky. 2017

I stepped outside my front door one afternoon to find this deceased woodcock at my feet. No context; as though it just fell from the sky. I moved it's body to the flower bed.

Loved. 2004.

Loved. 2004.

Shadow. 2003.

Shadow. 2003.

Sun-seared bones. 2009.

Sun-seared bones. 2009.

Gleaming White. 2001.

Gleaming White. 2001.

"It happened one day in the time of Christ that He passed by the dead body of a dog, a carcass reeking, hideous, the limbs rotting away. 

One of those present said: ‘How foul its stench!’ And another said: ‘How sickening! How loathsome!’ To be brief, each one of them had something to add to the list. But then Christ Himself spoke, and He told them: ‘Look at that dog’s teeth! How gleaming white!’

The Messiah’s sin-covering gaze did not for a moment dwell upon the repulsiveness of that carrion. The one element of that dead dog’s carcass which was not abomination was the teeth: and Jesus looked upon their brightness." ~Abdu'l-Baha, Selections pg 320.
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