Six years ago, I experienced a bereavement which brought me to my knees. In the time that followed, a transformation began. My eyes saw the tiniest of objects and my hands placed them in patterns that spoke to me about my experiences.

Irrepressible joy and unquenchable sorrow have touched my life, and pour through my hands into each piece of art. They visit us all. I use broken objects to make patterns of meaning that speak to my internal myths. I can only tell my story in fragments, as befits a person who fragmented before she knew what is was to be whole and rushed into the world with her broken pieces in outstretched hands, seeking the puzzle pieces to fit. My art is for all the people who know what it means to shiver with the intensity of the desire to die, who laughed at the darkness while paying homage to it as well, yet who find the will to stay and the courage to choose here. My art is for those that choose now, those who choose the sunrise, the moon set, the owls call, the laughter of coyotes, and to peer through the warmly lit windows of a home knowing that they have never known home, to choose the warm and musky smell of their children’s hair.

Joy Redstone is a licensed clinical social worker and addiction counselor. Joy received her MSW from Boston College in 1995. She served as the Executive Director of Bridge House for 7 years. Joy became Clinical Director of Naropa Community Counseling in 2015.