Empty Niches by Robin Bachtler Cushman

$500.00 - Please contact 23 Sandy for current availability.
The Sacred called to me early. Gaia beckoned me through nature. Christianity and Judaism twined through my life via family. These pillars of my spirituality were a nourishing and rich environment until I realized how divisive religions were and how patriarchal their texts. Questions arose: How could the sacred be viewed as profane by others who also professed faith? How could women be so excluded in the spiritual realm? In response to the schisms between religions and lack of the sacred feminine, I chose to physically embody each of the faiths I hold sacred and to bind them together. The sacred feminine in each is represented by the female body and the phases of the moon. Poetry describes my experience and my vision for healing and wholeness. Photography embodies light, as spirit enlightens and reveals. The cover photo was taken in Greece, an ancient place of many empty niches. I hand-bleached the trace of a figure leaving her niche - and in my poem I invite her to return to us.

Artist Bio

Robin Bachtler Cushman has been a fine art and commercial photographer since the 1970's. She created her first handmade photo artist book in photography school and returned to the art while working on her MFA in 2007. In the past five years, she has shifted her fine art photography almost entirely to artist books, in the desire to get her work off the walls and into viewers' hands for a more intimate experience. Today she incorporates drawing and scanner art, as well as photography, in her handmade artist books. Her artwork is in university, community college, corporate and private collections.