When I choose a title for an exhibition, the inherent poetry is more important to me than a literal meaning. And as an abstract artist, my use of the phrase, Better Angels, is more about what those two words together conjure for me. I think of putti, or Renaissance era winged cherubs. In the ancient classical world, winged infants were physical manifestations of fertility and abundance. What is a “better angel”? By the time of Lincoln’s inaugural address of 1861, “our better angels” was a figure of speech familiar to many citizens of the United States. The phrase would have called forth the notions of enlightened, calm, and virtuous judgment—the best guides to sensible and honorable conduct in any person or nation.

With bold, flat color and convoluted forms, the sculptures hover or slowly spin, drawing our attention upwards. The pieces float suspended overhead, intertwining like vines and painted in rich pastel like Renaissance-era cherubs, putti. Mirrored surfaces are interspersed with the flat planes of color, nodding to the literal reflections we see, but also slyly referring to self-reflection. This installation provides a space for experiencing joy and gratitude, simply being in the moment, during a fraught and precarious moment in our lifetimes.

Here is the quote from Abraham Lincoln’s first inaugural address.

“The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.