Two by Two

The pandemic isolated us from our loved ones so insistently that I had begun thinking about flood myths. Leaving aside the darkness, I focused on the myth as symbolic of change, a reaching towards rebirth, a meeting of East and West…the mantra Two by Two floated in the periphery of my brain as solace. And when my nieces could join me again, their physicality and sensuality, their contentment in being, presented. We draw ourselves, as threads of bigger surroundings. We used to talk about the sacred and profane in art history classes years back when I was a student and I remember wanting to join the two, why couldn't the vulnerable, odd, painful, everyday, also be miraculous? The phrase Two by Two has been repeating in my head, a mantra of survival, change, and rebirth, a symbol of hope. This drawing is part of a series of graphite drawings that shares a place of resiliency.