Over the years, I've received emails from people telling me they felt a positive, healing energy coming through different pieces of my art, sometimes during some of the hardest seasons of their lives. After recent losses in my own family, and with loved ones living with serious illness, I started to imagine an artwork for someone who might not get better physically, one that could still bring comfort and a sense of feeling held and protected.

My hope is for Held to support whatever kind of healing a person needs. For some, that might be healing in body. For others, it might be a deeper peace of mind and spirit, a long exhale, or the feeling of being supported enough to let go.

At the heart of Held is a quatrefoil carved in stone, a sturdy anchor for everything around it. Within it rest five coiled baskets, each inspired by basket-making traditions from a different continent, including Rwanda, Sardinia, Chile, Asia, and North America. I chose coiled basketry because the spiral itself suggests growth, continuity, and return. A pale braided ring inspired by the plaited fiber work of Oceania encircles them, representing a sixth continent.

Beyond the braided ring lies dark earth, and around it gathers a ring of bowls, pots, and cups in clay, wood, and ceramic, all seen from above and open to receive. Unlike the baskets, these aren't tied to one particular culture. Simple vessels are among the oldest and most universal things humans make, and together they speak a shared language of care. The earth beneath them and the stars beyond connect the most intimate gesture of holding to something much larger.

Held is meant for bedrooms, meditation corners, healing and therapy spaces, hospice and palliative care settings, and anywhere someone needs to feel supported just as they are.