This piece, with its many references to water and to circular movement, was created for a Day of the Dead exhibition at which artists were asked to interpret the traditional Mexican Dia de los Muertos celebration.

What is always included on even the simplest Dia de los Muertos altar in Mexico are bread, a little plate of salt and a glass of water, so that the spirits who are welcomed home on this day can refresh themselves after the long journey.

I find water to be a particularly apt metaphor for the circles traced by life and death over the millennia. With its ability to go easily from a liquid to a solid or a vapor, water possesses the power of transformation that is inherent in life and death.

The oceans are our greatest body of water on earth. The source of primeval life on our planet, the seas hold in their vast, mysterious depths that which cannot easily be seen or touched, but is certainly there.

This piece was created in honor of Gordon, who drowned in the waters of Mexico in October 2003.