Facades

Beautiful false walls
That cover up ugly truths
And hide dark demons

Looking Beneath the Calluses

In one of our occupational therapy classes last fall, we created sculptures of our hands and had to present them in a way that represented ourselves. This is the short piece I wrote to accompany my hand. Since it ties in very well to the title and intent of this blog, I decided to post it here:

My hand is covered in an old leather work glove. I cut away a few fingers of the glove to illustrate the contrast between the exterior and the interior. The hand hidden inside the glove is pale, delicate, and feminine looking, in contrast to the roughness of its surroundings. The hand can appear to be either completely covered or open and vulnerable, depending on which side it is viewed from. In my life, I have had several facets. The glove symbolizes the ‘rough and tumble’ personality that I developed at a young age as a defense mechanism. A sense of fragility and delicateness lies underneath the rough exterior, symbolized by the white hand and the outline of my wedding band. My sculpture is all about duality– initial appearances can be deceiving. Sometimes you have to dig through a few layers to reach the honesty that hides underneath a protective layer.