> INDIRA FREITAS
JOHNSON

My work continues to deal with the same issues that have preoccupied me for the last fifteen years – the growth towards a spiritual existence as an individual and as part of the human continuum. I have used symbols, traditions and ritual expression as a means to discover, interpret and balance the culture and philosophy of my home country, India, with the here and now of my life in the US.

Hands and feet, symbols that appear in practically every culture since the dawn of civilization, continue to dominate my work. Hands are the principal way that work is accomplished and signify the action of karma. Feet guide one towards spiritual growth and identity. Throughout my work, I have tried to evolve a vocabulary of signs to express the human relationship to the universe.

In India, the physical and spiritual unite in ritual expression as a means to discover and interpret the meaning of life. Ritual can transform materials or objects and make them function spiritually as well as physically. Common found objects when re-introduced into society, and presented in a ritualistic format, recycles their energy and the idea of the sacredness of everyday life is confirmed.

The shape of negative space as it appears enclosed in a particular form has a special power. It enables the viewer to project her/his own vision into that space. This idea of a meditative space where we can project our dreams and challenges, our fears and our aspirations is the concept that I have been working with these past few years. Symbols carved into the bricks all deal with struggle and triumph. Placed outside, they invite the viewer to journey from the outer reality to an inner knowledge, from the immediate to the transcendental.