For Grandma Annie

My grandmother, whom I loved dearly and was very close to, recently passed away overseas. I am still grieving her passing and cannot belive that she is gone. The last time I saw her was when we helped move her to the nursing home a few years ago. At the time I knew I would not see her again.

When I saw first saw a picture of Donatello’s Mary of Magdalene I was immediately reminded of my grandmother. At first the image of Mary of Magdalene was too disturbing and I looked away. I was surprised by my emotional response to this piece and wasn’t prepared to deal with the painful emotions.

After reading more about Mary's life I realized that there are several interesting parallels between Mary of Magdalene and my grandmother. My grandmother was a nurse and always took care of people just like Mary took care of Jesus. Like Mary, my grandmother was at times considered an outcast. My grandma lived alone, fought with everyone (except me) and was sometimes sad about how her life had turned out. Ironically she was also very religious, cared for the poor and was generous to a fault. A devout Catholic, she would often buy me books about the lives of saints, educate me about the faith and teach me prayers. Just as Mary was possessed by demons , my grandmother would often say she was ‘possessed’ by evil spirits. As a child I didn’t understand what she meant but now know that she probably suffered from mental illness.

After my initial reluctance I spent some quiet time reflecting on the various details of the sculpture. I realised that some similarities are also present in Donatello’s physical depiction of Mary which mirrors my grandmother’s physical features and emotional state towards the end of her life. The wooden statue of Mary is a visual of an old haggard woman with a haunted look in her eyes and her hands folded in prayer longing for comfort, peace or solace.

My grandmother never wanted to suffer. She always said that she would prefer to die quickly rather than be bedridden and be a burden to others. Unfortunatley for the last two years prior to her death she was striken with arthritis which left her stiff and in a lot of pain. The last time we met I was stunned by how frail and emaciated she was. I realized at the time that she had given up the will to live and knew that once she entered the nursing home she would not last long.

This feeling of sorrow and loss is what moves me most about Donatello’s sculpture. His representation of Mary is a strong visual of the deterioration of the mind, body and spirit at the end of life.

Another public work of art which evokes similar feelings of loss and rememberance is the‘Tribute of Light’ memorial to the victims of 9/11. Sponsored by the Municipal Arts Society in New York, the memorial was developed by architects and designers to respond to the tragedy in a public yet meaningful way.

To me the vertical columns of light seemingly with no beginning or end not only symbolize the physical footprint of the twin towers, but also symbolically represent the passage of souls from life to death. The simplicity and serenity of the design is in sharp contrast to the terror and devastation that occurred that day.

The concept for the memorial is based on the idea of 'phantom limbs'. Often people who have had their limbs amputated or removed continue to experience pain in the missing limb. This phantom pain is similar to the loss we as a nation experienced on September 11. The twin towers may be gone but the pain and sorrow of that day lingers on.

Click here to view a fascinating slide show about the ideas, events and people that contributed to the Tribute of Light project.