*Anthuriums
Anthurium Dancer
vintage and new fabrics, appliqué, mixed threads, machine embroidery, hand beading
by Ken Phillips
Anthuriums
Day 25 — March 5
It was like a treasure hunt for Elizabeth and me—searching for just the right art for an extra-tall staircase landing. When our friend, Ken Phillips, invited us to his art exposition on February 3, 2018, our search was finally over.
The singular word that comes to mind for Ken’s fabric creations is exquisite, especially this tapestry he titled, “Anthurium Dancer,” featuring the unusual heart-shaped flower—a symbol of love in Hawaii.
About this work, he wrote, “This masked reveler dances in a moon-lit glade of tropical growth and exotic anthuriums. Stylized butterflies move in and out and in-between the highly patterned borders, breaking boundaries in their flight.”
He continued, “My first memory of the shiny anthurium flower is from family funerals as a kid, the lively and impudent flower always showing up in the rooms where death and grief were also in attendance; it became a kind of icon of life’s insistence on being present, even in the face of death.”
Ken’s art is always that: a celebration of life in its shimmering color, exuberant design, and nuance of meaning.
Bringing this piece home was our own staking a claim on insisting that color and beauty and life fill our home and our hearts, even as Elizabeth’s health issues were more and more of a challenge.
Now, I imagine that I will someday be able to gaze upon this Anthurium Dancer with my heart full again, joining in life’s dance. For now, the artist’s dancer—hanging in my staircase—must dance alone.
Day 25: the art of love and loss
view all posts at kentmueller.com
February 10, 2020, was the day my wife, Elizabeth Izant, entered the hospital. She and I were on a hopeful journey following her heart transplant five months prior. On March 1, she entered hospice and died March 11. This series is not about her medical journey. This is about sharing stories and reflections about our life together. In our 29 years of marriage, we collected a piece of art or two each year, often in celebration of our marriage anniversary. Each day from February 10 to March 11, I will be sharing an image of that art. And a story.