How Art Heals-WEB

55 24. Harriet Cherry Cheney WWW.HARRIETCHENEY.COM NEW YORK, USA “In Israel, I had photographed ancient stones, which have always spoken to me. The digging up of more and more layers of civilization excites me tremendously. I knew I would come home and make a wall project; I was moved emotionally to do it. It had struck both my ‘beauty’ and ‘anger’ buttons. “I began by researching other ancient walls and by thinking about all that walls symbolize. I like for my projects to be based on an intellectual idea. This was complex because it touched on religion, history, philosophy, and justice. I tried to have some remnant of every wall for which I could find an image: the Great Wall, Hadrian’s Wall, and the Berlin Wall. “I collected photos that I found emotionally resonant, manipulated them on the computer, combined them with my own photos, and printed them on cotton and silk. These were my building blocks. I constructed the piece as if I was building a wall. When a photo didn’t work, I made the blocks (stones) out of other fabric, handmade paper, and whatever else I could think of. Because my emotions were running so high, I did less editing of my work than I would usually do; I think this lends an air of spontaneity and immediacy.” Working out my emotions through my work has become as basic as breathing. When life interferes—and weeks pass without working— that black hole reemerges. I have learned that I must throw myself into my work, especially when my emotions are running high. I must have always known this because I worked obsessively on art projects throughout my childhood. I forgot this in my thirties, forties, and f ifties. I’m lucky enough to have remembered it in my sixties!