Permission to Heal

This superadobe earth sculpture was inspired by the Venus of Willendorf, a Paleolithic artifact and one of the first known documentations of a woman in art.

2018 State of the Art Gallery Exhibition with Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture. Exhibited from 1 April - 30 July, 2018.

Permission to Heal was made with mud from the Montecito mudslides that left 17 killed, after the fires. She was built on site at the beginnings of Spring on “Anapamu St.,” Chumash for “Rising Place,” downtown State Street Santa Barbara with my mom, and members of the community, including homeless and those struggling with addiction.

Many gifts were left adorning Venus, or at her base during the Summer that she lived on State Street. Members of the community cared for and connected with this sculpture. She retired after this very public engagement and now rests under an “El Peru” pepper tree in Santa Barbara, Ca.