RISE FROM THE RUBBLE installed on TISHA B’AV 5781 / JULY 18, 2021, Battery Park, NY, NY

Rise from the Rubble (grief stone installation), 2021 — 100 lbs of clay, community participation and artist’s body, 40 inches diameter x 3 inches, Site-specific installation Battery Park, NY, NY. Video by Owen Crowley.

Rise from the Rubble is a multifaith ritual for the 9th of Av — Judaism’s saddest day — marked each year by fasting and lamenting in commemoration of exile, destruction and ongoing persecutions, hosted by Lab/Shul, Romemu and JFREJ together with their multifaith partners, the Church Center for the UN, Judson Memorial Church, Faith in New York, Muslim Community Network, and St. James Presbyterian Church.

I was commissioned to create an installation of Grief Stones to provide ritual objects for communal mourning and lamentation. Participants were invited to pick up a stone at the beginning of the event and encouraged to bring one home with them, charged with the energy of the ritual, as a reminder to recommit to the work of reclaiming a more just, safe and healthy life for all.