Salvatore LaRosa
Artist's Statement
1. Bird Tabernacle
The box offers alternative perches for an ancient glass “bird” and a new wire “nest” inscribed with a Tibetan prayer: “Do not abandon me.”
2. Cup Tabernacle
Seen from above, the open dome of this bronze sanctuary funnels light onto a gilded cup, the radiant presence in the cave-like interior.
3. Fire stele
The stone abstraction of a tree trunk supports a fireplace where burning wood recalls the life-giving warmth that begins and ends in dust.
4. VesicA Stele
An ancient fertility symbol, vesica in Latin, inspired the curves of a garden stele, or upright shaft, that gracefully channels rainwater.
5. EDEN's Waters
A vase inside a bronze urn holds a freshly cut branch, a memento of the Tree of Life that flourished in Adam and Eve's lost paradise.
6. face Tabernacle
Inspired by American Indian lore, a two-part wooden “mask” slides open to expose its animate “spirit” (a Lauretta Vinciarelli watercolor).
7. Miriam's cup
Drapery-like doors guard a cup for use at Seders. This nod to the biblical Miriam’s well honors women’s ongoing contributions to Judaism.
8. Tabernacle Study (entry)
A Chinese scholar’s rock (left) and LaRosa’s Face Tabernacle (right) flank the door to the study the artist regards as his own tabernacle.
9. embodied light
Although the marble niche and porcelain vessel allude to specific Christian rites, their luminosity evokes nonsectarian transcendence.
9. TBD
To be completed....
10. Pietà
Summoning up the Passion, Lamentation, and Entombment, the flow of a bronze-cast root embodies Mary’s veil, her tears, and Jesus’ shroud.
11. Processional cross
This version of the T-shaped, or tau, cross (a storied Christian emblem) stands ready to be hoisted from its base and carried forward.
12. bird table
An egg-shaped wooden top, a claw-like tripod base (not shown), and a roosting bronze bird compose a domestic homage to avian life cycles.
13. Vesica Diskos
The endless circle of a communion plate haloes a crushed pinecone’s mortal remains (found by LaRosa on a nature walk and cast in bronze).
14. Tabernacle Study (Exit)
Mounted on the interior wall above LaRosa's study door, his Calvary Diptych confers a benediction on every return to the outside world.
- 1. Bird Tabernacle
The box offers alternative perches for an ancient glass “bird” and a new wire “nest” inscribed with a Tibetan prayer: “Do not abandon me.” - 2. Cup Tabernacle
Seen from above, the open dome of this bronze sanctuary funnels light onto a gilded cup, the radiant presence in the cave-like interior. - 3. Fire stele
The stone abstraction of a tree trunk supports a fireplace where burning wood recalls the life-giving warmth that begins and ends in dust. - 4. Vesica Stele
An ancient fertility symbol, vesica in Latin, inspired the curves of a garden stele, or upright shaft, that gracefully channels rainwater. 
5. eden's Waters
A vase inside a bronze urn holds a freshly cut branch, a memento of the Tree of Life that flourished in Adam and Eve's lost paradise.
6. face Tabernacle
Inspired by American Indian lore, a two-part wooden “mask” slides open to expose its animate “spirit” (a Lauretta Vinciarelli watercolor).
7. Miriam's cup
Drapery-like doors guard a cup for use at Seders. This nod to the biblical Miriam’s well honors women’s ongoing contributions to Judaism.- 8. Tabernacle Study (entry)
A Chinese scholar’s rock (left) and LaRosa’s Face Tabernacle (right) flank the door to the study the artist regards as his own tabernacle. - 9. embodied light
Although the marble niche and porcelain vessel allude to specific Christian rites, their luminosity evokes nonsectarian transcendence. - 10. Pietà
Summoning up the Passion, Lamentation, and Entombment, the flow of a bronze-cast root embodies Mary’s veil, her tears, and Jesus’ shroud. 
11. Processional cross
This version of the T-shaped, or tau, cross (a storied Christian emblem) stands ready to be hoisted from its base and carried forward.- 12. bird table
An egg-shaped wooden top, a claw-like tripod base (not shown), and a roosting bronze bird compose a domestic homage to avian life cycles. - 13. VesiCa Diskos
The endless circle of a communion plate haloes a crushed pinecone’s mortal remains (found by LaRosa on a nature walk and cast in bronze). - 14. Sal's Tabernacle Exit
Mounted on the interior wall above LaRosa's study door, his Calvary Diptych confers a benediction on every return to the outside world.
