Chalices for the Twin Gods of Mania and Depression

2025

copper, colored cubic zirconium stones, red clay, black glaze over tea dust tenmoku, patinated in Midas black

This piece imagines the mental states of mania and depression as tangible poisons, and the vessels they would be served in if consumed ritualistically. 

Which cup will you drink from today? You must drink, you must choose, temperance will not save you. Both cups contain poison, and although the effects from each cup are different, the consequences are equally ruinous. 

Upon drinking from the slouched, pathetic cup, you begin to feel sedated and heavy, as if your bones were lead. Simply existing becomes a Sisyphean task, and you begin to wonder if you wouldn’t just be better off dead. And yet even killing yourself feels like too great an effort. So you drink from the ornate goblet. You feel suddenly full of energy. Soon, you realize that you are invincible, incredible, and beautiful. You put yourself in danger but you don’t care. You haven’t slept or eaten in days. It doesn’t matter, nothing matters but your reckless pursuit of gratification.