Reckoning

Reckoning, 2022 Mixed media installation Collection of the artist

Mysterious and provocative, Reckoning is a cautionary tale calling attention to a dystopian world of climate change. A field of harrow discs hold an array of objects. Some from the natural world and some cultural artifacts; some are found, and others made by the artist. On the table is an assortment of symbolic objects that suggest time, alchemy, and transformation.  A seat at the table is for s/he who sees the need, and is committed to the possibility of change.

Let them not say: we did not see it.

We saw.

Let them not say: we did not hear it.

We heard.

Let them not say: they did not taste it.

We ate, we trembled.

Let them not say: it was not spoken, not written.

We spoke,

we witnessed with voices and hands.

Let them not say: they did nothing.

We did not-enough.

Let them say, as they must say something:

A kerosene beauty.

It burned.

Let them say we warmed ourselves by it,

read by its lights, praised,

and it burned.

-Jane Hirshfield