PROCESSING GRIEF

Grief Plate (2025)

Art directive: Create a piece that is specific to preparing, serving or consuming a particular food.

Inspired by the loss of a member of my chosen family, Rahviance (pictured), I began to think a lot about the grief process.

Each of us processes grief and accesses comfort in such deeply personal and individual ways. Grief also takes many forms that do not involve literal death. In its most basic explanation, grief is the experience of mourning something - a relationship, goals, expectations or dreams, a loved one - that no longer exists.

I wanted to make something that could assist in the general grief process with enough versatility for any use. Since the emotional weight of grief can extremely cumbersome to carry around all day, I also wanted it to serve as a physical space reserved for grief in which one could sit, grieve and leave. There is always the option to return.

After questioning those around me, I found that the most common means of dealing with grief included:

• Crying
• Meditatio
• Spirituality
• Prayer
• Comfort eating
• Tarot reading
• Smoking cigarettes

• A built in stand to prop up any number of items (Tarot spreads, photos, an iPad for movies, a phone, books, etc.)

• An incense burner that can double as an ashtray

• Separated sections for food, crystals or anything else someone may want to include

• A tissue holder for those (like myself) who cry

Grief isn’t pretty and it’s a very raw experience. For this reason I chose not to smooth out the surface and did not include a gloss finish. The zig zag patters around the perimeter serves as a reminder that grief is not linear, it will fluctuate, and that we all should give ourselves grace as we navigate the grief process in our own way.The emotional weight of grief can extremely cumbersome to carry around all day.