Case, Carolyn

On a trip to Iran 10 years ago I visited the Ali Qapu palace in Isfahan. The walls and ceiling of the music room were covered with cut-outs of musical instruments. While the effect of the negative-spaced vault was primarily to enhance the acoustics, the visual impact was just as stunning. I remember that in a different part of the palace, there were similar cut-outs in plaster that were the shape of vessels. These were purportedly made to fit individual jugs and vessels. Now, centuries later, for one reason or another none had survived, and only the sarcophagus remained. I imagined that a craftsman had made each cut out or inset specific to the type of vessel being stored there. It was such a tender act and one for me that seemed like a metaphor for life: slowly trying to create a spot in the world that fits us, and all the while trying to forget that we will die. That unknown has always haunted me and this combination of ambitiously creating a life despite its uncertainty is underlies my current work.