hand in worship

3.mlRathjeHandwPhysalis.jpg

artist’s hand with physalis, first published in qarrtsiluni

Hands have been a major preoccupation of mine as I once wrote about here. When qarrtsiluni put out a call for submissions on the theme of worship, I began to think of the meaning of that word in a somewhat less than usual religious context.

I was inspired once again by the idea of how my hands are so much a part of me as a human being and as an artist, not just for the act of creating art but also for holding, observing and treasuring special found objects. I started to explore this idea by scanning my hand as if in the act of drawing, rather like when I had photographed my hand some years ago. I continued to make a small series of scans of my hand holding certain objects that are precious to me, as if in worship of those small things that make up this world we live in. I submitted several of these to qarrtsiluni’s guest editors and was thrilled when they were all selected.

These are now up today, including the image above. I hope you enjoy the artist’s hand as well as the other marvelous entries in qarrtsiluni’s worship issue.

P.S. Editor Dave Bonta told me that this is my 16th post at qarrtsiluni. I cannot believe it and must check out the archives in the author index.

P.S.2: Here is an earlier scan of a physalis, a favourite of mine.

November 4, 2011 in Being an Artist, Human, Nature, Photography, Photoworks by Marja-Leena