Artists Registry

We Do Not Forget ”
During 2001 I worked in Corporate Relations, I witnessed the burning building from a safe distance, horrified and speechless as all. Many of my clients were near the WTC on Sept. 11. When I visited them many weeks after 9/11, they spoke freely to me of their still having nightmares of having witnessed the workers who had to jump. As an artist, I wanted to do a project about the most important aspect of the tragedy to my clients, witnessing those poor souls who were forced to give up their life quickly rather than the unknown torture seconds away.
I began this project in 2002 and worked on this up until I was satisfied with it in 2012. Creating it helped me in my own mourning process. I knew people who died there, and I have the most empathy for those family members and friends who lost loved ones from whom no tangible burial has been possible. As an artist, I needed to do a piece that represents those who choose to jump rather than face unknown torture seconds away.
The work evolved slowly. It was a very difficult piece to make and it was the slowest creative process that I’ve ever gone through. It took me nine years to complete it. Months went by when I could not look at it. However, I was driven to create something to express our collective grief and pain. I realize now that it has been my mourning process, which is actually not over…I don’t think it ever will be.
It began with two leaning one inch steel “cubes” that are about 4 feet high, leaning, and then the figure slowly grew from there.
I felt almost a religious calling to do this piece. I have some sort of spiritual feeling about all my work, but this in particular. When I did the bending arms, I felt as if I were expressing the feeling that we all have of the hope, the urge to fend off the evil forces of the world, and throw them outward. It is an uplifting brave gesture of trying to throw the eyebeam piece away.
I decided one day to add a crossbeam, similar to the crossbeam of the WTC façade that was standing in the smoking rubble for months afterwards. The piece developed a more religious form with that, but I didn’t want it to represent one religion. I removed the first representation of the head I had made, and simply put a halo, a circle of light and life as the pinnacle of the figure and gave it a lifting, rising feel. Their spirit that each victim had and gave the world lives forever. After I added that halo, I felt a relief, like a heavy piece had been lifted from me.
I almost highlighted the halo by giving it color.. the color of the sky, or the bright yellow of the sun….a hopeful symbol of people being one, together, in unity someday. I decided against coloring it… I needed the gray steel to remain from top to bottom in unison.
To balance the whole sculpture it took years before I had the insight to place the weight on the left side of the base in the form of a broken skyscraper made out of eyebeams. This weight keeps the sculpture from falling. The photographs were taken from Liberty State Park, Jersey City , N.J. overlooking the rising Freedom Tower and Statue of Liberty.
I hope that it can be accepted as a donation to a museum someday.