ARTIST STATEMENT
What are the ways we hold grief?
What are the ways we release grief?
Grief stones are inspired by the Jewish tradition of placing stones on the headstone of a gravesite. Imprinting my hand into clay is a gesture of holding hands with my mother when I visit her gravesite. The act of squeezing clay can simultaneously release anger — a fist — and love — a held hand.
In this time of profound collective loss how do we collectively grieve? This work is an invitation to gather around the table, to sit in the discomfort of grief and support each other in the act of releasing the thoughts and energy which deteriorates us so we can make space for that which nourishes us.
Grief Stone Instructions:
Viewers are invited to pick up a stone and squeeze the stone in their hand.
1. Release thoughts which don’t serve you.
2. Release love to someone or somewhere.
Squeeze and release.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Meirav Ong (b. 1989) is an artist based in Ridgewood, NY. She creates sanctuaries for listening to elevate voices marginalized within patriarchal systems of religion through textiles, clay, sound recordings and ritualized performances. In curating experiences of intentional listening, Ong’s work subverts the silence of oppression and transforms listening into an act of resistance. She has exhibited at The Everson Museum in Syracuse, NY, and the Fowler-Kellogg Art Center in Chautauqua, NY, among others. She’s the recipient of grants to the Vermont Studio Center, Penland School of Craft, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, and the Chautauqua School of Art among others. Ong holds a BFA from the University of Michigan and is an MFA Candidate in Fibers at Cranbrook Academy of Art (‘22). Ong is the cofounder and art director of Well of Wills, a Jewish feminist art collective creating work at the intersection of spirituality and activism, based in Brooklyn, NY.
© Meirav Ong