Sychronicity has just caught up with me. Its time to listen to the Universe. And the Universe says, “start now!” So here I am. 

My Only Home by Wendi Bernau

I curate a local church Art Gallery. It’s a place for our congregation to display their work on various themes. This one is the first I’ve created for any exhibit there. I always wanted to make room for others. Sounds selfless, doesn’t it? However, I realized that I was using selflessness as an excuse to not get involved, to not put myself out there. If I don’t show, there’s no criticism. That kind of thinking ends now.

What does this piece mean? It is about the Earth, our home. The art is made completely from recycled materials. The canvas is from two years of practicing performance art for the church’s Christmas musical experience. One upside down Jesus and one powder explosion Jesus. Technically, buried under what you see is about a hundred layers of practice versions of those two, the faint outlines still visible if you know where to look. They’re almost like battle scars. The earth is made of pieces left over from various projects – the 12x28foot model train layout, scraps from the dresses made for women and children in Costa Rica and Africa, bits of cardboard and bottle wrappers: the things I use and reuse while I work. The stars are left from when I homeschooled my kids and we did a whole year on astronomy. This is our home, our life.

What does it mean? The Earth is the only home we have. It needs our protection. We cannot afford to be careless, to not recycle, to not care. In the cycles of life, things come and go; there is ebb and flow. And battle scars.