This altar contains various offerings to honor and acknowledge things we grieve. Often grief is framed specifically around death, or the loss of life. However, we grieve many things throughout our lifetimes. Even changes that are healthy and positive may involve working to accept them and feel the loss of how things once were. 

Here we find urns holding the ashes of many things we may experience loss around: Opportunities, memories, childhoods, time, lost sleep, constitutional rights, safety in schools, fertility (menopause), people lost to COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS, connections with ancestors, and more. We see tools for transcendence (stairs, ladders), foods to nourish ourselves through our grief process, and candles to light the way. Musical instruments acknowledging traditions such as those in New Orleans, where music is used to create community through grief.  A ceremonial knife for making openings between planes of existence. Picture frames holding space for those who we have lost. Each of these sculptures is an offering to remind us that it is healthy and important to take the time we need to grieve and heal during all the major transitions we come across in life. This project aims to help acknowledge our losses, so we can make room to be more present and mindful in how we live moving forward.