Relationships

Woodcut / Silkscreen / Ink / 2011-2012

To be smitten. To be infatuated. To be attached. To be obsessed, fanatical, consumed, and crushed by love. These are the standard ways of talking about how love affects us, and they are all one-sided. We live in a consumerist society. We define ourselves by what we like and want from others, from our favorite movies and TV shows to our favorite sports teams to what we're looking for in a perfect mate. We are smitten, infatuated, and even fanatical. But rarely are we truly, deeply in love.

Love is not about adding or subtracting from what we have. Love is a continuation. It is about continuing what is good in this life and making it better. It's an evolution that happens when something in someone else resonates with us, so we give the goodness in us for the betterment of that something else. Love is the understanding that what we give will not be lost. Love is how we improve.

The last piece created in this series is entitled Redamancy, which is defined as the act of returning love. It's a word no longer in use that defines love not so much by the feeling of love as the reciprocity of it.

To love others and let them love you, that's the bravest you'll ever be.