Objects of Devotion – A Beginning

Before we begin The Keeper of Fragments, I’d like to share something that has come into focus for me over many years of making.

In the accompanying video, which is included in every project in this series, you’ll see a span of my work from 2009 to the present—spirit figures, small altars, reliquaries, nichos, ex-votos, and saint-like portraits. For a long time, I thought of these as separate explorations, each with its own materials and intentions. But gradually, a conscious realization emerged.

They are all, in their own way, objects of devotion.

Not devotion in a strictly religious sense, but something broader and deeply human—a devotion to memory, to story, to the act of making, and to the mysterious impulse to give form to what matters. These pieces are not meant to persuade or to sell a belief. They are meant to hold meaning. To honor something. To bear witness.

This series grows from that realization.

Each project you’ll encounter here is an invitation to create your own object of devotion—something made not for the market, but for the sake of attention, care, and gratitude. A small, tangible expression of what you value, what you remember, what you carry.

You don’t need special materials or a defined outcome. You only need a willingness to notice what calls to you—and to respond with your hands.

In that sense, devotion becomes a practice. A way of staying in relationship with your work, your life, and the quiet, persistent desire to make something meaningful.

What to Take Away from This Video

As you watch the collection of work in the video, I invite you not to see it as something to replicate, but as a way of recognizing possibilities.

These pieces are simply examples of how one artist—over time—has responded to materials, memories, and meaning. They are not templates. They are traces of a path.

What I hope you take away is a sense of permission.

Permission to gather what calls to you.
Permission to work with what you already have.
Permission to create objects that hold personal meaning, even if that meaning is quiet or not easily explained.

If something sparks an idea—follow that spark. Let it lead you somewhere that is yours, not mine.

The goal isn’t to make something that looks like these pieces. The goal is to begin noticing what you are devoted to—and to give it form in a way that feels honest and true.

That’s where your work begins.