Artist Statement

Prayer Sticks
Following the precedent of my faith, the recitation of the Mi Shebeirach on Shabbat, for the healing of relatives and friends and oneself is a crucial part of the Shabbat service.

The force which motivated the creation of the pieces in this show is my experience of male breast cancer, with which I was diagnosed in March of 2002. For me, healing from the cancer has involved working through feelings related to dealing with developing a predominantly female disease, going through chemotherapy, and the process of having to be checked by an oncologist every few months, thus never really putting the experience behind me. I have also gone through several bouts of skin cancer over the past couple years.

Working with objects taken directly from nature has helped me to work through a great deal of the healing process. Since my experience with breast cancer, I have used trees, branches, pieces of stone, and leather in the creation of sculptures. These pieces of wood, bark, etc...have helped me recognize the beauty in nature's transformation processes.

I typically start my pieces by letting the materials dictate an image. Never really knowing what the final outcome will be. This helps me to remember that I, a cancer survivor, never really know what my final outcome will be. I have learned that I may have an image of where I want to go, nature (in my case cancer) can dictate a direction. The interaction of these two forces can perhaps influence that direction. Ultimately however, it is not up to me to know what the final outcome will be.

I then cut and tie together various elements, and add a prayer for my own healing. The prayer is written on a strip of handmade paper and written with India ink and reed pen. Once dry, the paper is rolled and attached to the sculpture. Some sculptures may contain several prayers.

Finally, some pieces are cast in bronze, a much more "permanent" substance. This process entails the burning of the original piece, in a furnace. The sculpture is transformed, although every detail of the original is still in place. What remains of the original sculpture is a shadow of the original, in bronze; a much stronger material.

– Mario Kujawski

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Contemporary Abstract Work Artist Statement
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