Float Away

This kite consists of sewn together articles of my mother’s clothing. I performed the kite in solitude along the shores of the Great Salt Lake where the salinity reminded me of tears. I flew the kite in the axis mundi—the space between earth and heaven—in hopes that the message embroidered on the kite would reach her as a final good-bye. The message reads:

I will release my last

desperate grasp on you dearest Dotty

and allow you to float away.

Loft upward and upward.

Surely you will be welcomed

through the gates of heaven.

You have loved and given

so freely for all of your days.

I love you dearly

and will miss you forever.

Let my life be an example

of your selfless generosity and

ability to see goodness in all.

Farewell.

I’ll see you on the other side.