Years ago, I found the grave of a young woman, Charlene T. Sweetwood. I never knew her, yet she held my grief in this life while I was alive. I returned to her again and again, carrying her memory with me across states, across years. Her life, though ended, continued to ripple into mine, proof that even in silence, we are not finished. Death can be a cocoon, an unseen transformation that releases its echoes long after breath is gone. Like the butterfly effect, a single presence, a single loss, can alter the course of another life. Charlene reminds me that what seems like an ending is often just the beginning of our becoming, that death, too, is a cocoon, releasing wings we cannot see.

In creating this work, I thought a lot about Félix González-Torres, who used candy to describe the experience of loss shaped by the AIDS epidemic. I chose candy cellophane as a way to echo that, wrapping loss in something luminous. My connection to Charlene deepened when my friend, historian and genealogist Sarah Potter, uncovered her photographs in the Joliet yearbook. The images had just only became public in 2020. When Sarah sent them to me, I realized we had not only walked the same high school halls but also shared an early devotion to photography. These chance convergences of material, memory, and history created a ripple effect in my life, and during a global pandemic, this felt like a message reaching across time.

Cocoon was made for “The True Butterfly Effect” a hybrid art exhibition opening at Slip Gallery on September 12th during the Belltown Art Walk (on view through October 4). Inspired by the Butterfly Effect—the idea that small shifts can lead to big impact—the exhibition features a large-scale installation of hundreds of hand-decorated aluminum butterflies created by community members alongside theme-aligned artwork by local artists. Through free workshops and butterfly-making activities held throughout August and September, participants of all ages and abilities are invited to contribute their creativity to the project. Celebrating connection, transformation, and the ripple effects of everyday actions, The True Butterfly Effect highlights the importance of individual expression within the collective fabric of community. 

Curated by Alexandra Nason.