My mixed media assemblage, “Metta Repair Kit (2016)”, was displayed at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Detroit on April 21, 2016 for the Taubman Institute’s Evening of Art + Science. I was one of 20 artists selected to participate with a medical research fellow from the Taubman Institute. I was paired with Dr. Sharlene Day, M.D. The piece is inspired by her research into hypertrophic cardiomyopathy–the most common inherited heart condition. We met and talked about each other’s work at my studio and at her lab and clinic. I decided to use the theme of metta meditation, or lovingkindness meditation. Metta is a Pali word meaning loving-kindness, friendliness, goodwill, benevolence, fellowship, amity, concord, inoffensiveness and non-violence. Metta mediation is a heart centered  form of meditation. Sitting and meditating with  an  altruistic attitude or focus on universal, all-embracing love and friendliness (metta)  is said to have a healing and purifying effect on oneself and others.

mixed media: scavenged vintage reconstructed clock box, hand blown glass heart vial with flame stopper, acrylic, gold leaf, decorative paper,  beeswax, pigment, ribbon, LED lights, EKG printouts, and found objects, including: ceramic hands, glass vials, dropper bottles, test tubes, game pieces, cigar bands, dice, beads, wood box, rubber heart, paper ephemera, 

39.5”h x 16.25″w x 6.5”d

This is what should be done By one who is skilled in goodness, And who knows the path of peace: Let them be able and upright, Straightforward and gentle in speech, Humble and not conceited, Contented and easily satisfied, Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways. Peaceful and calm and wise and skillful, Not proud or demanding in nature. Let them not do the slightest thing That the wise would later reprove. Wishing: In gladness and in safety, May all beings be at ease. Whatever living beings there may be; Whether they are weak or strong, omitting none, The great or the mighty, medium, short or small, The seen and the unseen, Those living near and far away, Those born and to-be-born — May all beings be at ease! Let none deceive another, Or despise any being in any state. Let none through anger or ill-will Wish harm upon another. Even as a mother protects with her life Her child, her only child, So with a boundless heart Should one cherish all living beings; Radiating kindness over the entire world: Spreading upwards to the skies, And downwards to the depths; Outwards and unbounded, Freed from hatred and ill-will. Whether standing or walking, seated or lying down Free from drowsiness, One should sustain this recollection. This is said to be the sublime abiding. By not holding to fixed views, The pure-hearted one, having clarity of vision, Being freed from all sense desires, Is not born again into this world.