Client: California Institute of Integral Studies

Location: San Francisco, CA, United States

Completion date: 2012

Project Team

Artist

Patter Hellstrom

Patter Hellstrom Visual Art

Other

Cedric Pilard

Story Eyed Media

Overview

GRIEF PATH: an installation at CIIS by artist Patter Hellstrom in which she traced grief visually over time in a 48-foot long painting and individual intimate scale paintings.

Goals

Patter Hellstrom traced the last four years of her life, marked by significant personal losses of some of those closest to her. Informed by her own experience this piece speaks to both the personal and universal human experiences of grief.

Process

Film maker Cedric Pilard documented the creation of this piece over the 48-hours in which it was created.

Additional Information

Grief Path Bay Area-based artist Patter Hellstrom traced the last four years of her life, marked by significant personal losses of some of those closest to her. Informed by her own Judeo-Christian upbringing balanced against a deep interest in Buddhist principles, the artist maps the psychological, cognitive, and emotional dimensions of grief through time. What are the navigational tools on a grief path? The gestural paint applied over the rationalized pencil grid reflects the emotional immediacy of each moment, and letting go of cultural expectations around each loss resulted in moments of grace and acceptance.