HOLDING THE GHOSTS

New work in collaboration by WiL Labelle & Coleman Stevenson

Holding the Ghosts is an exploration of the things that haunt us. For this collaboration, text and image artist Coleman Stevenson and ceramic artist WiL Labelle were inspired by folklore and customs from around the globe involving the containment of spirits in various sorts of manmade containers. In these twelve pairs of images and clay vessels, the housed spirits are metaphorical— the past experiences, emotions, fears, obsessions, tendencies, addictions, and patterns that influence human behavior. Some vessels lock away malevolent energies of personal demons for our protection; others house benevolent spirits, safekeeping them for future use.