Soundtrack - Stella Maris / Moby
Performer / sculptor / printmaker - Alison Batley Stone
Videographer / editor - Patrick Di Rito
Videographer - Dessa Lohrey
My "Offering" performances manifest a yearning to embrace the mystery of being a human, body and soul. Experiences of wounded innocence invoke the need for healing in the physical and spiritual realms. Fear has been a paralyzing factor on this voyage. Perceived failure inhibits me from creative expression. Moments of authentic love and vulnerability have been my liberating impetus.
Through the movement of my body, I feel called to incarnate this experience of my own “wounded innocence.” Molding clay onto the contours of my body transforms the invisible into tangible material objects that reflect my inner being. With each touch of the clay, I ask for the grace to bring internal and external healing to each part of my body. Through this anointing ritual, the memories of past wounds are recalled the present is filled with a healing grace, and the hope
for continual transfiguration is realized. These vessels are then presented before the community of viewers, and some are offered to special individuals. This offering invites others to participate in this creative therapeutic ceremony in his or her own way. In imitation of Jesus of Nazareth, who offered his body and blood as food to His followers when he said “take and eat it... this is my body (Matthew 26:26),” this offering relates to the giving of oneself as a kind of sacrament. I offer my body impressed into these earthen vessels to the audience as one would offer food to others.