Shaky Ground

written Aug 31, 2008, during insomniatic wakening

There are layers.

My truth is only one view through a convoluted, rippled memory.

As a child, my experiences and observations came with no contextual identifiers.  Even reactions were downplayed and re-assigned in acquiescence to an elder's (church's) desires.

In what format does a child live?  One person's most tragic day could be another's fantasy castle.

Pastelsplitself_2 The fact of some tragedy (ies) does not rob a child of their memorial joy, but it does cast a long shadow on their psychological future.

Sensory triggers are psychoneuroimmunilogical and those re-wired synapses cannot be re-instated to their seminal semantics.

This time of personal archetype development can overrun the soul.  Souls become lost in the netherworld of loss.

While surrounded by birds chirping in the clear blue sky, this, my tattered soul, is grasping at slippery roots to regain a sense of solid footing.

Shall it come to pass?

In my life, moments glimmer with mica-glittered foundation stones, until a new tremor comes along - it is hard to stand on such shaky ground.

What are my "seismic" pre-tremor shocks?

- thick, twisty "devil" eyebrows

- greasy, slicked-back, receding hair

- fishhooks

- knobs turning under a porch awning

- jelly

- banana seat bikes

- flyswatters (especially if shaped like a butterfly)

- keys or money being jangled in a pocket

- creaky swings

- fish eggs pouring from a fresh fish

- black, glossy tarmac from the glare of the sun

- dirty fingernails

- vans with no back seats

- trailers

- pencils

- having my head pushed down

- "Good Girl"

- religion

- blankets too light to feel "safe"

- the urge to pee at night and the danger of going to the nearest bathroom

Raggedy_digital Images:

Image 1 - above - "Split Self", pastel on paper, 32"h x 24"w, 2006.

Image 2 - immediate left - "Your Story Begins At Home", Found Object/Altered Doll Sculpture, Self Portrait, 42" h x 16"w x 17"d, 2006.

Read More

About the Artist

Sher Fick holds a BFA Painting/Sculpture (2006) from Middle Tennessee State University and has studied at the Santa Fe College of Art and The Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. While living in the Florida Panhandle, Fick was nominated for the Cox/Bravo Channel’s Champion for the Arts Award. Fick’s work explores personal and cultural archeology utilizing encaustic, fiber, and mixed media. Regarding the recent work “Coping Skills” (fiber/wood/plexi-mirror/prescription bottle installation), Art Critic/Writer, Tonya Vernooy, notes that Fick’s work “examine[s] normality and the question of enhancement versus therapy . . . [t]he vibrancy and symbolism commemorating her past self and simultaneously rejoicing in the person these pharmaceuticals have allowed her to become”. Linda Weintraub states that the work ‘celebrates the success of [Fick’s] determined efforts to stitch the fractured parts of her personality into a coherent persona . . . Fick defies the stigma against the use of prescription drugs to assist women in becoming responsible and loving mothers. Art Critic David Maddox found Fick’s work, “dealing with childhood and domestic matters” handled in “ . . . a pleasurably lively manner” and that the materials were arranged in a “ . . . ceremonial and ritualistic” way.
Read More