The Shrine of the Shattered Vessels

The term shattered vessels is borrowed from Kabala. Various Kabala texts depict the creation of the world as an act of God infusing immense light into vessels that were meant to hold light; however, since the light was so full of power, the vessels were too weak to hold it and they shattered, scattering the light.
The main image projected on the altar/table of the installation is made out of photograms that I utilized in an attempt to revive, even in a metaphoric way, the infinite light sent into the vessels. A photogram is a print made by lighting an object placed on photographic paper. The enlarger’s light in the darkroom shone through the vessel that I placed on the photographic paper and broke apart the images of the vessel into lines of light. This is meant to evoke a reflection of the sparks of godliness trapped in the shattered vessels.