The Happy Carrot Cult

This piece examines the relationship between spirituality, religion and the earth. Hierarchies in dominant religious institutions, is evidenced by the three tiers; as one moves from the ground level to the uppermost trinity, there are fewer and more ‘sophisticated’ carrot-people, more removed from the earth. I’m playing with the notion of how institutionalized religions create a gap between the earth and spirit, and cultivate a sense of ‘not good enough’ through hierarchical structures that promote abeyance to rules more focused on controlling humans than cultivating their personal spiritual evolution. ‘Happy carrots’ may develop in response to this structural imposition, wherein people play happy because they are in community, even though they may be very disconnected from the earth that supports them, and their own inherent divine connection to all of life.

In this piece, simple ‘people/carrots’ exist on earth/soil at the base, grounded in their source; these multicolored carrot figures have uplifted carrot stems (looking like hands), raised in praise toward the next tier. This wooden tier /base holds five more refined figures, in that they have heads and arms (human fingers) raised in praise toward the topmost level.

On the third tier (a metal platform) is a trinity of winged, haloed carrot figures that radiate with beauty and authority. They are ‘male’ in form, reflecting the current situation of patriarchal authority in religious institutions. This majestic trinity level, glows with spiritual aura and authority. Even at this ‘higher’ level, these 3 winged carrots are composed from earthy vegetable parts (carrot body, egg head and squash wings), thus belying their true origin as earthly matter.