spirit of faithful interpretation - paper maché mask
reposted from December 2024, initially as multiple Instagram posts;
paper maché cardboard & mixed media, including pages from a $2 thrifted bible
This piece churned through me in the wake of the November election, through a final cracking that I do not want mended. The betrayal I feel at the re-election of a rapist and fraud has shattered me to a new hot rage at the noose of American Christian nationalism that has coiled into fascism around us all, and that frequently points to Biblical scripture as defense for its bigotry. So, this is a mask as a prayer: for a continued remembrance and revitalization of the anti-empire, collectivist spiritual life that began 2,000 years ago with a handful of ragtag kids in the desert, called to spread the good news of a new way. What could our civilization look like if our politicians were led by a faith like the one demonstrated by a radically loving, nonviolent, anti-state 33 year old who was publicly executed for his vision of a world of community care, spiritual liberation, and redistribution of power and wealth?
Photos generously made with the help of my good love David Conty at Amat Kunyily, the Kumeyaay name for Sunset Cliffs, San Diego.
“…soft dreams under hard conditions are no good; in tough times we must have tough dreams, real dreams, those that, if we will work diligently and drink our milk to the health of the Virgin, will come true.” - Clarissa Pinkola Estés
May we reclaim the path of an ancient mystical desert tradition and reject the political obscenities done in its name. Tear up the scapegoated scriptures and demand renewal and remembrance. May we lean on a community of wisdom for discernment for when to revolt and when to reconcile (and imagination for when both might be possible at once). Stay with the questions, build resilience in patience and participation and process and play; the way is the gray.
I reject any god of damnation. I reject any spirituality’s claim to unwavering, solitary truth. I reject a religion that holds conditions of belonging. Any good news is for us all. We are all beckoned into the river of wholeness, without exception.
We need a wild, societal, collective reorientation of priorities and values if we are to make it through these times. We need each other to help let go. We need to release our addiction to control, power, money. We need to remember the roots of our religiosities. We have heard through science and politics that these are dire days; so may we tend to them with genuine spiritual reckoning - which if taken seriously, will all be magnificent diverse storied paths to mutual care, god, earth, death, and deep life. To the sort of liberation the yogis speak of, the Buddhist monks meditate towards, and that an enlightened 33 year old was publicly executed for teaching to the people 2,000 years ago.
I am an animist and I am a theist. I am perhaps something of a Christian and almost certainly something of a witch and pagan. It seems we are blessed with a paradox of innate enoughness while also being imparted with unique gifts that beckon us into action, participation, devotion. So, a queer prayer, a visual poem, a mask for the churning within me that feels like a braiding of my paths. May you make the masks you need too.
We must not be afraid to tear up what no longer works.
