image: 1 ⅛” diameter, charm: 1 ¾” x 1 ¼” x ⅛”
2018
metal charm, acrylic painting, Swarovski crystals
I have also referred to Charm #61 as “Gravitas.” Here, I’ve been influenced by the rich Baroque tradition of vanitas painting, using varied symbols, such as the human skull, to remind us of the passage of time and imminent death. I find that the City often has difficulty in examining such grim subject matter, but we are all mere mortals—let us face that fact! I’ve written a poem that follows. “An inescapable inscape, / An irretrievable past, / Irreconciliation / With neither rest nor repast— / A redoubtable remnant / Of a shadow long cast; / Let this be my last lament: / A Presence has passed.”